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50M — May-54 — Form    3 


A  PRACTICAL  TREATISE 

OS 

HUMANITY  TO   HONEY  BEES ; 

OR 

PRACTICAL  DIRECTIONS 

FOR    THE 

MANAGEMENT  OF  HONEY  BEES, 

UPON  AN  I3IPR0VED  AND  HUMANE  PLAN, 

BY    WHICH 

THE    LIVES    OF    BEES    MAY    BE    PRESERVED, 

AND    ABUNDANCE    OF    HONEY    OF 

A    SUPERIOR    QUALITY 

OBTAINED. 


BY 
EDWARD    TOWNLEY. 


NEW-YORK: 

PRINTED    BY    WILLIAM    S.    DORR, 

No-  123  Fulton  Street. 


1843. 


rvy^ 


Entered  according  to  tbc  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year 
1843,  by 
EDWARD  TOWNLEY. 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  South- 
ern District  of  New- York. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


The  primary  object  of  this  little  compila- 
tioiij  is  the  dissemination  of  a  more  system- 
atic method  of  conduct  pertaining  to  Honey 
Bees,  than  has  heretofore  been  practised. 

When  our  industrious  citizens  are  appri- 
sed of  the  most  approved  method  of  cultiva- 
ting BeeSj  and  the  rational  amusement  and 
actual  profit  to  be  derived  from  Honey  Bees, 
we  may  confidently  expect  that  this  branch 
will  no  lonorer  loiter  in  the  rear  of  other  im- 
provements  in  rural  economy. 

Every  possible  effort  has  been  used,  to 
render  this  work,  in  all  respects,  competent 
to  the  purpose  in  view,  that  of  imparting,  in 
the  clearest  manner,  every  point  of  know- 
ledge requisite  for  the  succ^ss^id  manage- 


IV  ADVERTISEMENT. 

merit  of  Honey  Bees.  The  compiler  indulges 
the  hope  that  his  labors  will  be  crowned  with 
the  sanction  of  experienced  and  respectable 
authorities,  and  the  approbation  of  the  public. 
The  destructive  ravages  of  the  Bee  Moth 
have,  in  many  places,  almost  annihilated 
our  Bee  establishments,  and  discouraged  all 
attempts  to  renewed  trials.  Not  less  than 
one  hundred  hives  have,  the  past  season, 
been  entirely  destroyed  by  that  enemy,  with- 
in a  few  miles,  in  New  Jersey,  and  in  places 
where  a  single  hive  has  yielded  one  hundred 
pounds  of  honey.  From  a  particular  inves- 
tigation of  this  subject,  the  compiler  is  now- 
able,  with  much  confidence,  to  announce, 
that  an  effectual  preventive  of  such  depreda- 
tions will  be  found  recorded  in  this  produc- 
tion. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction, 
Chap.  I. — Anatomy  of  the  Honey  Bee. 
"       II.  The  Senses  of  Bees. 
"       III.  Sight. 
"       IV.  Feeling  or  Touch. 
"       V.  Taste. 
"       VI.  Hearing. 
"       VII.  Smelling. 
"       VII.  The  Inmates  of  a  Hive. 
"       IX.  Of  the  Queen  Bee. 
"       X.  Of  the  Worker  Bee. 
"       XI.  The  Drone  Bee. 
"       XII.  Impregnation  of  the  Queen  Bee. 
"       XIII.  Retarded  Impregnation. 
"       XIV.  Of  the  Brood. 
"       XV.  On  the  Formation  of  Swarms. 
"       XVI.  Second  Swarms. 
"       XVII.  On  Artificial  Swarms. 
♦'       XVIII.  On  the  Conversion  of  the  Larva  of  a  Work 

er  into  a  Queen. 
"       XIX.  On  the  Construction  of  the  Hive. 
1* 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Chap.  XX.  Observatory  Hive. 

XXI.  Bee  Feeding. 

XXII.  Bee  Food. 

XXIII.  Method  of  destroying  or  preventing  the 
Depredations  of  the  Bee  Moth. 

XXIV.  On  Ventilating. 

XXV.  Management  of  Bees  during  Winter. 

XXVI.  On  burying  Bees. 

XXVII.  Remedy  for  the  Stings  of  Bees. 

XXVIII.  Measure  and  Weight  of  Bees. 

XXIX.  Conclusion. 


INTRODUCTION. 


OF    THE    HONEY    BEE. 

The  domestic  Honey  Bee  has  excited  a 
lively  and  almost  universal  interest  from  the 
earliest  ages.  The  philosopher  and  the  poet 
have  each  delighted  in  the  study  of  an  insect 
whose  nature  and  habits  afford  such  ample 
scope  for  inquiry  and  contemplation,  and 
even  the  less  intellectual  peasant,  while  not 
insensible  of  the  profit  arising  from  its  judi- 
cious culture,  has  regarded  with  pleasure 
and  admiratioUj  its  ingenious  operations  and 
unceasing  activity.  "  Wise  in  their  govern- 
ment," observes  the  venerable  Kirby,  "  dili- 
gent and  active  in  their  employments,  devo- 
ted to  their  young  and  to  their  queen,  the 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

Bees  read  a  lecture  to  mankind  that  exem- 
plifies their  oriental  name,  Deburah,  she  that 
speaketh.  The  study  is  delightful  to  the 
mind  that  contemplates  the  mysterious  ope- 
rations of  nature,  and  traces  its  wonderful 
phenomena  up  to  nature's  God.  The  indus- 
trious Bee  has  ever  been  viewed  by  intelli- 
gent naturalists  as  an  interesting  species  of 
insects,  and  the  fruits  of  its  industry  as 
among  the  choicest  productions  of  nature." 
There  is  no  branch  of  husbandry,  the  cul- 
tivation of  which  furnishes  for  our  table  a 
more  innocent  and  grateful  luxury,  than  that 
of  the  Bee,  nor  any  part  of  natural  history 
better  calculated  to  raise  our  contemplation 
to  that  Divine  Wisdom  which  creates  and 
sustains  them.  If  you  speak  of  a  Bee,  your 
conversation  will  be  a  sort  of  demonstration 
of  His  power  whose  hand  formed  them,  for 
the  wisdom  of  the  workman  is  commonly 
perceived  in  that  which  is  of  little  size.  He 
who  has  stretched  out  the  heavens,  and  dug 
up  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  is  also  He  who  has 
pierced  a  passage  through  the  sting  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

Bee  for  the  ejection  of  its  poison.  So  high 
did  the  ancients  carry  their  admiration  of  this 
tiny  portion  of  animated  nature,  that  one 
philosopher,  it  is  said,  made  it  the  sole  ob- 
ject of  his  study  for  nearly  three-score  years  ; 
another  retired  to  the  woods,  and  devoted 
to  its  contemplation  the  whole  of  his  life  ; 
while  the  great  Latin  poet,  stating,  and  pro- 
bably adopting,  a  prevalent  opinion,  speaks 
of  the  Bee  as  having  received  a  direct  ema- 
nation from  the  Divine  Intelligence.  After 
all  this  study,  however,  these  enthusiastic 
admirers  have  thrown  but  little  light  on  the 
real  nature  of  this  extraordinary  insect ;  and 
while  they  have  handed  down  to  us  many 
judicious  precepts  for  its  practical  treatment, 
their  disquisitions  on  its  natural  history  can 
now  only  excite  a  smile.  The  chief  cause 
of  this  failure  may  be  fairly  ascribed,  per- 
haps, to  the  want  of  those  facilities  for  disco- 
very, which  modern  science  has  afforded, 
and  by  which  the  most  hidden  mysteries  of 
Bee  economy  are  rendered  clear  and  palpable. 
In  fact,  much  has  been  written  and  pub- 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

lished  on  the  subject,  calculated  to  startle  a 
sober  reader  :  and  some  of  those  discoveries 
which  have  been  blazoned  in  publications, 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  will  be  found,  on 
strict  examination,  to  have  no  existence  but 
in  the  warm  fancy  or  blind  enthusiasm  of 
the  observers.  The  incontrovertible  facts 
in  the  natural  history  of  the  Bee,  are,  in 
themselves,  too  remarkable  to  justify  any 
attempt  to  draw  upon  the  imagination  for 
additional  wonder ;  and  the  naturalist  who 
is  desirous  of  making  himself  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  instincts  and  habits  of 
this  interesting  little  creature,  should  be 
cautious  in  considering,  as  an  established 
fact,  any  discovery,  or  supposed  discovery, 
which  has  not  been,  again  and  again,  verifi- 
ed by  rigid  experiment. 

In  the  following  details,  embracing  the 
Natural  History  and  Practical  Management 
of  the  Honey  Bee,  I  have  endeavored  to 
avoid  this  error  ;  stating  nothing  as  fact,  but 
what  I  know  to  be  so  from  undoubted  testi- 
mony, or  from  my  own  knowledge  and  ex- 


IXTRODUCTION.  XI 

perience.  At  the  same  time,  I  have  not 
omitted  to  notice  such  alleged  discoveries  or 
results  of  experiments,  as  appear  to  me  to  be 
unsupported  by  sufficient  evidence,  or  at 
variance  with  experiments  of  my  own,  made 
for  the  express  purpose  of  verification,  leav- 
ing it  to  the  reader  to  receive  or  reject  them, 
as  his  judgment  may  dictate. 

I  have  availed  myself  of  the  information 
dispersed  throughout  a  variety  of  publica- 
tions, both  ancient  and  modern,  with  such 
additions  of  my  own,  as  have  been  acquired 
by  the  observation  of  Bees  for  a  period  of 
many  years.  I  trust  that  the  facts  detailed, 
will,  of  themselves,  lead  the  mind  of  the  in- 
telligent reader  to  such  reflections,  and  thus 
become  the  source  of  a  purer  gratification 
than  would  have  been  derived  from  the  sug- 
gestions of  others. 


A  PRACTICAL  TREATISE 

ON    THE 

MANAGEMENT  OF  HONEY  BEES, 

ETC. 


The  careful  Insect,  midst  his  works  I  view, 
Now  from  the  flowers  exhaust  the  fragrant  dew; 
With  golden  treasures  load  his  little  thighs, 
And  steer  his  distant  journey  through  the  skies. 
Some,  against  hostile  drones,  the  hive  defend, 
Others,  with  sweets  the  waxen  cells  distend; 
Each  in  the  toil  his  destined  office  bears, 
And  in  the  little  bulk  a  mighty  soul  appears. 

Gay. 

The  bee  is  small  among  the  fowls,  yet  doth  its  fruit  pass 
in  sweetness.  Ecclesiasticus,  xi.  3. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ON  THE  ANATOMY  OF  THE  HONEY  BEE. 

The  Honey  Bee,  Apis  Mellifica,  is  of  the 

order  of  insects  having  four  membranaceous 

wings.     Its   anatomical  structure   presents, 

even  to  the  superficial  observer,  striking  evi- 

2 

D.  H.  HILL  LIBRARY 
North  Carolina  State  College 


14  TREATISE    ON    THE 

dences  of  design  in  the  All-wise  Contriver, 
and  of  the  admirable  adaptation  of  its  parts 
to  their  several  uses.  The  body  of  the  in- 
sect is  about  half  an  inch  long,  of  a  blackish 
brown  color,  which  deepens  with  age,  and 
is  wholly  covered  with  close  set  hairs,  which 
assist  greatly  in  collecting  the  farina  of 
flowers.  Tearing  open  the  anthers  of  the 
plant  on  which  it  has  alighted,  and  rolling 
its  little  body  in  the  bottom  of  the  corolla, 
the  insect  rapidly  brushes  off  the  farina, 
moistens  it  with  its  mouth,  and  passes  it 
from  one  pair  of  legs  to  another,  till  it  is 
safely  lodged,  in  the  form  of  a  kidney-shaped 
pallet,  in  a  spoon-like  receptacle  in  its  thigh, 
to  be  afterwards  noticed.  These  hairs  de- 
serve to  be  particularly  remarked,  on  ac- 
count of  their  peculiar  formation^  being  fea- 
ther-shaped, or  rather  consisting  each  of  a 
stem  with  branches  disposed  around  it,  and, 
therefore,  besides  their  more  effectually  re- 
taining the  animal  heat,  peculiarly  adapted 
for  their  office  of  sweeping  off  the  farina. 
The  head,  which  is  of  a  triangular  shape 


.J  eu\^ 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY   BEES.        15 

and  much  flattened,  is  furnished  with  a  pair 
of  large  eyes,  of  what  is  called  by  naturalists 
the  composite  construction,  and  consisting 
of  a  vast  assemblage  of  small  hexagonal  sur- 
faces, disposed  with  exquisite  regularity, 
each  constituting  in  itself  a  perfect  eye ; 
they  are  thickly  studded  with  hairs,  which 
preserves  them  from  dust,  &c.  In  addition 
to  these  means  of  vision,  the  Bee  is  provided 
with  three  small  stemmata,  or  coronetted 
eyes,  situated  in  the  very  crown  of  the  head, 
and  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  triangle. 
These  must  add  considerably  to  the  capaci- 
ty of  vision  in  an  insect  whose  most  impor- 
tant operations  are  carried  on  in  deep  ob- 
scurity. As  to  the  special  or  peculiar  use 
these  ocelli  may  serve,  Reaumur  and  Blu- 
menbach  were  of  opinion,  that,  while  the 
larger  compound  organs  are  used  for  view- 
ing distant  objects,  the  simple  ones  are  em- 
ployed on  objects  close  at  hand.  It  is  not 
improbable,  however,  that  these  last,  from 
their  peculiar  position,  are  appropriated  to 
upward  vision.     The  antennae  present  us 


16  TREATISE    ON    THE 

with  another  remarkable  appendage  of  the 
head.  These  are  two  tubes,  about  the  thick- 
ness of  a  hair,  springing  from  between  the 
eyes,  and  a  httle  below  the  ocelli ;  they  are 
jointed  throughout  their  whole  length,  each 
consisting  of  twelve  articulations,  and  there- 
fore capable  of  every  variety  of  flexure. 
Their  extremities  are  tipped  with  small  round 
knobs,  exquisitely  sensible,  and  which,  from 
their  resemblance  to  the  stemmata  or  ocelli, 
have  been  supposed  by  some  to  serve  as  or- 
gans of  vision  ;  by  others,  as  connected  with 
the  sense  of  hearing  ;  and  by  others,  as  or- 
gans of  feeling  or  touch.  This  last  seems 
the  most  probable  conjecture,  as  on  approach- 
ing any  solid  object  or  obstacle,  the  Bee  cau- 
tiously brings  its  antennae  in  contact  with 
it,  as  if  exploring  its  nature.  The  insects 
use  these  organs,  also,  as  a  means  of  recog- 
nizing one  another,  and  an  interesting  in- 
stance is  stated  by  Huber,  in  which  they 
were  employed  to  ascertain  the  presence  of 
their  queen.  The  mouth  of  the  Bee  com- 
prehends the  tongue,  the  mandibles  or  upper 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        17 

jaws,  the  maxillae  or  lower  jaws,  the  labrimi 
or  upper  lip,  the  labium  or  lower  lip,  with 
the  proboscis  connected  with  it,  and  four  palpi 
or  feelers. 

The  tongue  of  the  Bee,  like  that  of  other 
animals,  is  situated  within  the  mouth,  and  is 
so  small  and  insignificant  in  its  form,  as  not 
to  be  easily  discernible.  In  most  anatomical 
descriptions  of  the  Bee,  the  real  tongue,  now 
described,  has  been  erroneously  confounded 
with  the  ligula  or  central  piece  of  the  pro- 
boscis, afterwards  to  be  described.  The  up- 
per jaw  of  the  Bee,  like  that  of  all  other  in- 
sects, is  divided  vertically  into  two,  thus 
forming,  in  fact,  a  pair  of  jaws,  under  the 
name  of  mandibles.  They  move  horizon- 
tally, are  furnished  with  teeth,  and  serve  to 
the  little  laborers  as  tools,  with  which  they 
perform  a  variety  of  operations,  as  manipu- 
lating the  wax,  constructing  the  combs  and 
polishing  them,  seizing  their  enemies,  de- 
stroying the  drones,  6cc.  The  lower  jaws 
or  maxillae,  divided  vertically  as  the  others, 
2* 


18  TREATISE    ON    THE 

form,  together  with  the  labium  or  upper  lip 
the  complicated  apparatus  of  the  proboscis. 

This  organ,  beautiful  in  its  construction, 
and  admirably  adapted  to  its  end,  serving  to 
the  insect  the  purpose  of  extracting  the  juices 
secreted  in  the  nectaries  of  flowers,  consists, 
principally,  of  a  long  slender  piece,  named, 
by  entomologists,  the  ligula,  and  erroneous- 
ly, though,  considering  its  position  and  use, 
not  unnaturally,  regarded  as  the  tongue.  It 
is,  strictly  speaking,  formed  by  a  prolonga- 
tion of  the  lower  lip.  It  is  not  tubular,  as 
has  been  supposed,  but  solid  throughout, 
consisting  of  a  close  succession  of  cartilagi- 
nous rings,  above  forty  in  number,  each  of 
which  is  fringed  with  very  minute  hairs, 
and  having  also  a  small  tuft  of  hair  at  its  ex- 
tremity. It  is  of  a  flattish  form,  and  about 
the  thickness  of  a  human  hair,  and,  from  its 
cartilaginous  structure,  capable  of  being  ea- 
sily moved  in  all  directions,  rolling  from  side 
to  side,  and  lapping  or  licking  up,  by  the  aid 
of  the  hairy  frmges,  whatever  adheres  to  it. 
It  is,  probably,  by  muscular  motion,  that  the 


MANAGEMENT    OP    HONEY    BEES.        19 

fluid  which  it  laps  is  propelled  into  the  pha- 
rynx or  canal,  situated  at  it  root,  and  through 
which  it  is  conveyed  to  the  honey  bag. 

The  trunk  of  the  Bee,  or  thorax,  ap- 
proaches in  figure  to  a  sphere,  and  is  united 
to  the  head  by  a  pedicle  or  thread-like  liga- 
ment. It  contains  the  muscles  of  the  wings 
and  legs.  The  former  consist  of  two  pair, 
of  unequal  size,  and  are  attached  to  each 
other  by  slender  hooks,  easily  discernible 
through  a  microscope,  and  thereby  their  mo- 
tion, and  the  flight  of  the  insect,  are  render- 
ed more  steady.  Behind  the  wings,  on  each 
side  of  the  trunk,  are  situated  several  small 
orifices,  called  stigmata  or  spiracles,  through 
which  respiration  is  efiected.  These  orifices 
are  connected  with  a  system  of  air  vessels, 
pervading  every  part  of  the  body,  and  serv- 
ing the  purpose  of  lungs.  The  rushing  of 
the  air  through  them  against  the  wings, 
while  in  motion,  is  supposed  to  be  the  cause 
of  the  humming  sound  made  by  the  Bees. 
To  the  lower  part  of  the  trunk  are  attached 
three  pair  of  legs.     The  anterior  pair,  which 


20  TREATISE    ON    THE 

are  most  efficient  instruments,  serving  to  the 
insect  the  same  purpose  as  the  arms  and 
hands  to  man,  are  the  shortest,  and  the  poste- 
rior pair  the  longest.  In  each  of  these  limbs 
there  are  several  articulations  or  joints,  of 
which  three  are  larger  than  the  others,  serv- 
ing to  connect  the  thigh,  the  leg  or  pallet, 
and  the  foot  or  tarsus,  the  others  are  situated 
chiefly  in  the  tarsus. 

In  the  thigh  of  each  of  the  hinder  limbs, 
there  is  an  admirable  provision  made  for  en- 
abling the  Bee  to  carry  to  its  hive  an  impor- 
tant part  of  its  stores,  and  which  neither  the 
queen  nor  the  male  possess,  they  being  ex- 
empted from  that  labor,  viz.,  a  small  trian- 
gular basket  or  cavity  of  a  spoon-like  shape, 
the  exterior  of  which  is  smooth  and  glassy, 
while  its  inner  surface  is  lined  with  strong 
close  set  hairs.  This  cavity  forms  a  kind  of 
basket,  destined  to  receive  the  pollen  of 
flowers,  one  of  the  ingredients  composing 
the  food  of  the  young.  It  receives  also  the 
propolis,  a  viscous  substance,  by  which  the 
combs  are  attached  to  the  roof  and  walls  of 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        21 

the  hive,  and  by  which  any  openings  are 
stopped  that  might  admit  vermin  or  the  cold. 
The  hairs  with  which  the  basket  is  lined, 
are  designed  to  retain  firmly  the  materials 
with  which  the  thigh  is  loaded.  The  three 
pair  of  legs  are  all  furnished,  particularly  at 
the  joints,  with  thick  set  hairs,  forming 
brushes,  some  of  them  round,  some  flattened, 
and  which  serve  the  purpose  of  sweeping  off 
the  farina.  There  is  yet  another  remarka- 
ble peculiarity  in  this  third  pair  of  limbs. 
The  junction  of  the  pallet  and  tarsus  is  ef- 
fected in  such  a  manner  as  to  form,  by  the 
curved  shape  of  the  corresponding  parts,  a 
pair  of  real  pincers.  A  row  of  shelly  teeth, 
proceed  from  the  lower  edge  of  the  pallet, 
corresponding  to  bundles  of  very  strong  hairs, 
with  which  the  neighboring  portion  of  the 
brush  is  provided.  When  the  two  edges  of 
the  pincers  meet — that  is,  the  under  edge  of 
the  pallet,  and  the  upper  edge  of  the  brush — 
the  hairs  of  each  are  incorporated  together. 
The  extremities  of  the  six  feet  terminate 
each  in  two  hooks,  with  their  points  oppo- 


22  TREATISE    ON    THE 

sed  to  each  other,  by  means  of  which  the 
Bees  fix  themselves  to  the  roof  of  the  hive, 
and  to  one  another,  when  suspended,  as  they 
often  are,  in  the  form  of  curtains,  inverted 
cones,  festoons,  ladders,  &c.  From  the  mid- 
dle of  these  hooks  proceeds  a  little  thin  ap- 
pendix, which,  when  not  in  use,  lies  folded 
double  through  its  whole  breadth  ;  when  in 
action,  it  enables  the  insect  to  sustain  its 
body  in  opposition  to  the  force  of  gravity, 
and  thereby  adhere  to  and  walk  freely  and 
securely  upon  glass  and  other  slippery  sub- 
stances, with  its  feet  upwards. 

The  abdomen  is  attached  to  the  posterior 
part  of  the  thorax  by  a  slender  ligament, 
like  that  which  unites  the  thorax  and  the 
head,  and  consists  of  six  scaly  rin^s  of  un- 
equal breadth.  It  contains  two  stomachs, 
the  small  intestines,  the  venom-bag,  and  the 
sting.  An  opening,  placed  at  the  root  of  the 
proboscis,  is  the  mouth  or  gullet,  which  tra- 
verses the  trunk,  and  leads  to  the  anterior 
stomach.  This  last  named  vessel  is  but  a 
dilatation  of  the  gullet,  and,  in  fact,  forms  the 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         23 

honey-bag.  When  fall,  it  exhibits  the  form 
of  a  small  transparent  globe,  somewhat  less 
in  size  than  a  pea.  It  is  susceptible  of  con- 
traction, and  so  organized  as  to  enable  the 
Bee  to  disgorge  its  contents.  The  second 
stomach,  which  is  separated  from  the  first, 
of  which  it  appears  to  be  merely  a  continua- 
tion, only  by  a  very  short  tube,  is  cylindri- 
cal, and  very  muscular.  It  is  the  receptacle 
for  the  food,  which  is  there  dio^ested,  and 
conveyed  by  the  small  intestines  to  all  parts 
of  the  body  for  its  nutriment.  It  receives 
also  the  honey  from  which  wax  is  elabora- 
ted. Scales  of  this  last  mentioned  substance 
are  found  ranged  in  pairs,  and  contained  in 
minute  receptacles  under  the  lower  segments 
of  the  abdomen.  No  direct  channel  of  com- 
munication between  the  stomach  and  these 
receptacles  or  wax-pockets  has  yet  been  dis- 
covered, but  Huber  conjectures  that  the  se- 
creting vessels  are  contained  in  the  mem- 
brane which  lines  these  receptacles,  and 
which  is  covered  with  reticulations  of  hex- 
agonal meshes,  analagous  to  the  inner  coat 


24  TREATISE    ON    THE 

of  the  second  stomach  of  ruminating  quad- 
rupeds. The  scales  of  wax  are  deposited  in 
these  two  areas,  and  assume  the  same  shape, 
viz.,  an  irregular  pentagon.  Only  eight  scales 
are  furnished  by  each  individual  Bee,  for  the 
first  and  last  ring,  constituted  differently  from 
the  others,  afford  none.  The  scales  do  not 
rest  immediately  on  the  body  of  the  insect, 
a  slight  liquid  medium  is  interposed,  which 
serves  to  lubricate  the  junctures  of  the  rings 
and  facilitate  the  extraction  of  the  scales, 
which  might  otherwise  adhere  too  firmly  to 
the  sides  of  the  receptacles. 

The  sting,  with  its  appendages,  lies  close 
to  the  last  stomach,  and,  like  the  proboscis, 
may  seem  to  the  naked  eye,  a  simple  instru- 
ment, while  it  is,  in  fact,  no  less  complex  in 
its  structure  than  the  former  apparatus,  hi- 
stead  of  being  a  simple  sharp-pointed  wea- 
pon, like  a  fine  needle,  it  is  composed  of  two 
branches  or  darts,  applied  to  each  other  lon- 
gitudinally, and  lodged  in  one  sheath.  One 
of  these  darts  is  somewhat  longer  than  the 
other ;   they  penetrate    alternately,    taking 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES. 


25 


hold  of  the  flesh,  till  the  whole  sting  is  com- 
pletely buried.  The  sheath  is  formed  by  two 
horny  scales,  along  the  grooves  of  which, 
when  the  sting  is  extruded,  flows  the  poison, 
from  a  bag  or  reservoir  in  the  body  of  the 
insect,  near  the  root  of  the  sting.  The  darts 
composing  this  weapon,  are  each  furnished 
with  five  teeth  or  barbs,  set  obliquely  on 
their  outer  side,  which  give  the  instrument 
the  appearance  of  an  arrow,  and  by  which  it 
is  retained  in  the  wound  it  has  made,  till  the 
poison  has  been  injected  ;  and  though  it  is 
said  the  insect  has  the  power  of  raising  or 
depressing  them  at  pleasure,  it  often  happens 
that  when  suddenly  driven  away,  it  is  unable 
to  extricate  itself,  without  leaving  behind  it 
the  whole  apparatus,  and  even  part  of  its  in- 
testines, death  is  the  inevitable  consequence. 
Though  detached  from  the  animal,  this  for- 
midable weapon  still  retains,  by  means  of 
the  strong  muscles  by  which  it  is  impelled, 
the  power  of  forcing  itself  still  deeper.  On 
the  subject  of  the  sting,  Paley  ingeniously 
remarks  :  "  The  action  of  the  sting  aftbrds 
3 


26  TREATISE    ON    THE 

an  example  of  the  union  of  chemistry  and 
mechanism  ;  of  chemistry,  in  respect  to  the 
venom  which  in  so  small  a  quantity  can  pro- 
duce such  powerful  eifects  ;  of  mechanism, 
as  the  sting  is  not  a  simple,  but  a  compound 
instrument.  The  machinery  would  have 
been  comparatively  useless,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  chemical  process,  by  which,  in  the 
insect's  body,  honey  is  converted  into  poison, 
and  on  the  other  hand,  the  poison  would 
have  been  ineffectual  without  an  instrument 
to  wound,  and  a  syringe  to  inject  the  fluid." 
Having  noticed  these  particulars  in  the 
anatomical  structure  of  the  working  Bee,  as 
the  general  representative  of  the  species,  we 
shall  next  point  out  in  what  it  differs  from 
the  conformation  of  the  queen,  and  the  male 
or  drone.  The  queen  is  frequently  styled 
by  the  naturalist,  the  mother  Bee,  and  with 
great  propriety,  as  it  seems  now  ascertained 
that  her  distinguishing  qualities  have  a  closer 
reference  to  the  properties  of  a  parent,  than 
to  the  province  of  a  sovereign.  Her  body 
differs  from  that  of  the  workers,  it  being  con- 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        >i7 

siderably  larger,  and  of  a  deeper  black  in  the 
upper  parts,  while  the  under  surface  and  the 
limbs  are  of  a  rich  tawny  color.  Her  pro- 
boscis is  more  slender,  her  legs  are  longer 
than  those  of  the  worker,  but  without  the 
hairy  brushes  at  the  joints,  and  as  she  is  ex- 
empted from  the  drudgery  of  collecting  fa- 
rina or  propolis,  the  posterior  pair  are  with- 
out the  spoon-like  cavity  found  in  those  of 
her  laboring  offspring.  When  about  to  be- 
come a  mother,  her  body  is  considerably 
swollen  and  elongated,  and  her  wings  in  con- 
sequence appear  disproportionally  short. 
The  abdomen  of  the  queen  contains  the  ova- 
rium, consisting  of  two  branches,  each  of 
which  contains  a  largfe  assemblasre  of  ves- 
sels  filled  with  eggs,  and  terminating  in  what 
is  called  the  aviduct.  This  duct,  when  ap- 
proaching the  anus,  dilates  itself  into  a  larger 
receptacle,  into  which  the  eggs  are  dis- 
charged, and  which  is  considered  by  natural- 
ists, as  the  sperm  reservoir,  or  depository  of 
fecundating  matter,  from  thence  they  are  ex- 
truded by  the  insect,  and  deposited  in  the 


28  TREATISE    ON    THE 

cell  prepared  for  their  reception.  The  sting 
possessed  by  the  queen  is  bent,  while  that  of 
the  workers  is  straight ;  it  is  seldom,  how- 
ever brought  into  action,  perhaps  only  in  a 
conflict  with  a  rival  queen. 

The  male  is  considerably  more  bulky  than 
the  working  Bee.  The  eyes  are  more  pro- 
minent, the  antennas  have  thirteen  articula- 
tions instead  of  twelve,  the  proboscis  is  short- 
er, the  hind  legs  have  not  the  basket  for  con- 
taining farina,  and  he  is  unprovided  with  a 
sting.  The  cavity  of  the  abdomen  is  wholly 
occupied  with  the  digestive  and  reproductive 
organs.  The  very  loud  humming  noise  he 
makes  in  flying,  has  fixed  upon  him  the  ap- 
pellation of  Drone. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    SENSES    OF    BEES. 

Much  uncertainty  has   prevailed  on  the 
subject  of  the  senses  possessed  by  this  insect, 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         29 

not  SO  much,  perhaps,  in  regard  to  their  ex- 
istence, as  to  the  locahty  of  the  organs. 
Most  naturalists  admit  their  possession  of 
five  senses,  analogous  to  those  of  man,  though 
the  celebrated  Huber  seems  to  have  some 
doubt  as  to  the  existence  of  the  faculty  of 
hearing  in  Bees,  at  least  without  some  im- 
portant modifications.  Greater  diversity  of 
opinion,  however,  prevails  as  to  the  situation 
of  those  organs  by  which  the  impression  of 
sight,  touch,  taste,  sound,  and  smell  are  pro- 
duced on  their  sensations,  and  many  curious 
experiments,  by  different  naturalists,  have 
been  made  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  truth, 
but  which  have  not  always  led  to  the  same 
results.  In  researches  so  minute,  it  is,  per- 
haps, vain  to  look  for  perfect  accuracy  in  our 
conclusions,  and  we  must  be  satisfied  with 
any  thing  like  a  reasonable  approximation  to 
the  truth. 


30  TREATISE    ON   THE 


CHAPTER  III. 


SIGHT. 


In  my  remarks  on  the  anatomical  struc- 
ture of  the  head  of  the  Bee,  I  observed  that, 
besides  the  large  reticulated  eyes,  placed,  as 
in  other  animals,  on  the  sides  of  the  head, 
this  insect  possessed  three  stemmata  or  coro- 
netted  eyes,  arranged  triangularly  on  its  cen- 
tre, between  the  antennae.  That  these  little 
specks  are,  in  reality,  organs  of  vision,  has 
been  made  apparent,  from  accurate  experi- 
ments, in  which,  when  the  reticulated  eyes 
were  blindfolded,  the  insect  was  evidently 
not  deprived  of  sight,  though  the  direction 
of  its  flight  being  vertical,  seemed  to  prove 
that  the  stemmata  were  adapted  only  or  chief- 
ly to  upward  vision.  This  additional  organ 
must,  doubtless,  add  considerably  to  its  power 
of  sight,  though,  probably,  its  aid  may  be 
confined  chiefly  to  the  obscure  recesses  of 
the  hive.    As  the  internal  operations  of  the 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         31 

insect,  in  the  honey  season,  are  carried  on 
during  the  night  as  well  as  the  day,  the  co- 
ronet eyes  may,  as  Reaumur  conjectures, 
serve  to  it  the  purpose  of  a  microscope.  As 
to  the  general  power  of  vision  in  the  Bee,  its 
organs  appear  better  adapted  to  distant  ob- 
jects, than  to  such  as  are  close  at  hand. 

When  returning  loaded  from  the  fields,  it 
flies  with  unerring  certainty,  and  distin- 
guishes at  once  its  own  domicil,  in  the  midst 
of  a  crowded  apiary.  Yet  every  person, 
who  has  at  all  made  this  insect  the  subject 
of  observation,  must  have  seen  it  often  at  a 
loss,  in  returning  to  its  hive,  to  find  the  en- 
trance, especially  if  its  habitation  has  been 
shifted,  ever  so  little,  from  its  former  station ; 
nay,  if,  without  moving  the  hive,  the  en- 
trance has  been  turned  round  a  single  inch, 
from  its  former  position,  the  Bee  flies,  with 
unerring  precision  to  that  point  on  the 
alighting  board  where  the  door  formerly 
stood ;  and,  frequently,  after  many  fruitless 
attempts  to  find  the  entrance,  it  is  forced  to 
rise  again  into  the  air,  with  a  view,  I  may 


32  TREATISE    ON    THE 

suppose,  of  removing  to  such  a  distance  from 
the  desired  object  as  is  suited  to  the  proper- 
ties or  focus  of  its  visual  organ.  I  am  led  to 
conclude,  therefore,  from  these  well  known 
facts,  that  the  eye  of  the  Bee  has  a  lengthen- 
ed focus,  and  that  it  must  depend  on  the  aid 
of  other  organs  in  those  operations  wherein 
its  attention  is  directed  to  objects  close  at 
hand. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


FEELING    OR    TOUCH. 


The  organs  of  this  sense  are  supposed, 
with  reason,  to  reside  in  the  antennas  and 
palpi  or  feelers,  particularly  in  the  former. 
Huber  concludes  that  the  antenna3  supply 
the  want  of  sight  in  the  interior  of  the  hive, 
and  that  it  is  solely  by  their  means  they  are 
enabled  to  construct  their  combs  in  darkness, 
pour  their  honey  into  the  magazines,  feed 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        33 

the  young,  judge  of  their  age  and  necessi- 
ties, and  recognize  their  queen. 

Though  it  does  by  no  means  appear  clear 
that  the  Bees  are  devoid  of  sight  when  em- 
ployed in  their  in-door  operations,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  their  is  reason  to  believe,  as 
already  stated,  that  the  stemmata  or  ocelli 
serve  as  orbs  of  vision,  yet  this  naturalist  is 
probably  not  wrong  in  ascribing  to  the  an- 
tennae an  important  share  in  these  operations. 
That  the  Bees  use  them  as  means  of  com- 
munication and  recognition,  seems  readily 
admitted  by  apiarians.  When  a  hive  has 
lost  its  queen,  the  event,  as  may  well  be  sup- 
posed, causes  a  high  degree  of  agitation  in 
the  colony ;  the  disturbed  workers,  who  have 
first,  by  some  unknown  means,  acquired  the 
knowledge  of  this  public  calamity,  soon  quit 
their  immediate  circle,  and,  meeting  their 
companions,  says  Huber,  their  antennae  are 
reciprocally  crossed,  and  they  slightly  strike 
them. 

The  communication  made  by  these  means 
is  quickly  disseminated,  and  in  a  few  minutes 


34  TREATISE    ON    THE 

the  whole  colony  is  in  a  state  of  agitation 
and  distress.  Of  the  antennse  being  employ- 
ed as  instruments  of  recognition,  the  same 
naturalist  gives  a  striking  instance,  which 
our  limits  prohibit  from  giving  in  his  own 
words.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  by  means  of  a 
wire  grating,  wide  enough  only  to  admit  the 
circulation  of  air,  inserted  in  the  middle  of 
the  hive,  he  separated  the  queen  from  half 
of  her  subjects  and  ascertained  that  neither 
sight,  hearing,  nor  smell  made  the  near  neigh- 
borhood of  their  sovereign  known  to  them, 
for  they  proceded  to  rear  a  new  queen  from 
the  larva  of  a  worker,  as  if  the  other  were 
irrevocably  lost.  But  when  a  grating  wide 
enough  to  allow  the  transmission  of  the  an- 
tennae was  discovered,  all  went  on  as  usual, 
for  the  bees  soon  ascertained  by  these  organs 
the  existence  of  their  queen. 

Another  important  use  which  the  Bees 
make  of  this  organ  of  touch  deserves  notice. 
Let  us  follow  their  operations  by  moonshine, 
when  they  keep  watch  at  the  opening  of  the 
hive  to  prevent  the  intrusion  of  moths  then 


MANAGEMENT    OP    HONEY    BEES.         35 

on  the  wing.  It  is  curious  to  observe  how 
artfully  the  moth  knows  how  to  profit  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  Bees,  which  require 
much  hght  for  seeing  objects,  and  the  pre- 
cautions taken  by  the  latter,  in  reconnoiter- 
ing  and  expelling  so  dangerous  an  enemy. 
Like  vigilant  sentinels,  they  patrol  around 
their  habitations  with  their  antennae  stretch- 
ed out  straight  before  them,  or  turning  to  the 
right  and  left ;  woe  to  the  moth,  if  it  cannot 
escape  their  contact ;  it  tries  to  glide  along 
between  the  guards,  carefully  avoiding  their 
flexible  organs,  as  if  aware  that  its  safety 
depended  on  its  caution. 


CHAPTER  y, 

TASTE. 


In  Bees,  taste  appears,  on  a  slight  view,  to 
differ  most  materially  from  that  sense  in  man, 
and  because,  with  all  their  eager  fondness 


36  TREATISE    ON   THE 

for  the  rich  nectar  of  flowers,  they  are  frequent- 
ly detected  lapping  the  impure  fluid  from  cor- 
rupted marshes,  it  has  been  hastily  conclu- 
ded, that  their  sense  of  taste  is  very  defective. 
Huber  thought  it  the  least  perfect  of  the  bee- 
senses,  and  instances  their  gathering  honey 
even  from  poisonous  flowers,  and  regaling 
themselves  with  fetid  liquids.  Now,  with  de- 
ference to  this  distinguished  observer,  it  may 
be  permitted,  perhaps  to  defend  our  favorites 
from  so  injurious  an  imputation.  We  have 
prima  facie  evidence  of  the  delicacy  of  their 
taste,  in  their  eager  activity  in  collecting  their 
delicious  stores  of  honey,  secreted  by  the 
most  fragrant  flowers  ;  and  such  is  their  ar- 
dor in  these  operations,  that  they  defy  the 
elements  when  the  honey  season  is  at  its 
height,  and,  laying  aside  their  usual  fears  of 
bad  weather,  boldly  encounter  wind  and  rain 
to  get  at  their  favorite  fluid.  Huber  ac- 
knowledges, that  when  the  lime-tree  and 
black  grain  blossom,  they  brave  the  rain,  de- 
part before  sunrise,  and  return  later  than  or- 
dinary.   But  their  activity  relaxes  after  the 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        37 

iiowers  have  faded,  and  when  the  enamel 
adorning  the  meadows  has  fallen  under  the 
scythe,  the  Bees  remain  in  their  dwelling, 
however  brilhant  the  sunshine.  Wherefore 
have  they  not,  in  this  decline  of  the  flower- 
ing season,  recourse  to  the  foul  marsh  and 
slimy  pool,  which  they  are  charged  with  fre- 
quenting ?  Simply  because  the  purposes  for 
which  they  did  frequent  these  unwholesome 
liquids  have  already  been  answered.  The 
truth  is,  the  Bees  have  recourse  in  spring, 
but,  generally  speakins:,  in  spring  only,  to 
dunghills  and  stagnant  marshes,  for  the  sake 
of  the  salts  with  which  they  are  impregnated, 
and  which  -their  instinct  teaches  them  are 
advantageous  to  their  health,  after  their  long 
winter  confinement.  If  we  place  before  the 
Bees  a  portion  of  honey,  and  a  portion  of 
liquid  drawn  from  a  corrupt  source,  their 
choice  will  completely  vindicate  the  purity 
of  their  taste,  and  their  power  of  discrimina- 
tion in  the  selection  of  their  food. 

It  is  not  meant  to  be  denied,  however,  that 
the  sense  of  taste  in  Bees  is  ever  at  fault. 
4 


38 


TREATISE    ON    THE 


This  would  be  going  in  the  face  of  some  well 
authenticated  instances  of  honey  being  in- 
jured, and  even  rendered  dangerouS;  in  con- 
sequence of  the  Bees  feeding  on  noxious 
plants.  Towards  the  close  of  the  year,  when 
flowers  become  scarce,  and  in  those  parts  of 
the  country  where  alders  abound,  and  where 
onions  and  leeks  are  cultivated  on  a  large 
scale,  and  allowed  to  run  to  seed,  the  Bees, 
from  taste,  or  from  necessity,  or  from  anxiety 
to  complete  their  winter  stores,  are  seen  to 
feed  on  these  plants,  which  communicate  to 
the  honey  a  very  disagreeable  flavor.  Fa- 
ther Lamberti  also  assures  us,  that  a  shrub 
of  Mingrelia  produces  a  kind  of  honey  which 
causes  very  deleterious  eff'ects.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  the  poisonous  juices  extracted 
from  these  plants  might  be  innoxious  to  the 
Bees  themselves,  and  thus  the  correctness 
of  their  taste  might  be  so  far  vindicated. 
Sir  J.  E.  Smith  asserts,  that  the  nectar  of 
plants  is  not  poisonous  to  Bees,  and  an  in- 
stance is  given  in  the  American  Philosophical 
Transactions,  of  a  party  of  young  men,  who, 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         39 

induced  by  the  prospect  of  gain,  having  re- 
moved their  hives  from  Pennsylvania  to  the 
Jerseys,  where  there  are  vast  savannahs, 
fineh-  painted  with  the  flowers  of  the  Kalmia 
angustipolia,  could  not  use  or  dispose  of  their 
honey,  on  account  of  its  intoxicating  quality ; 
yet  the.  Bees  increased  prodigiously,  an  in- 
crease only  to  he  explained,  says  Dr.  Be  van, 
in  his  Honey  Bee,  by  their  being  well  and 
harmlessly  fed.  Nor  is  this  defence  of  the 
taste  of  Bees  successfully  controverted  by  the 
following  occurrence,  stated  in  Nicholson's 
Journal.  A  large  swarm  of  Bees  having  set- 
tled (observe,  that  they  had  merely  alighted 
upon  it,  to  rest,  perhaps,  after  a  long  flight,) 
on  a  branch  of  the  poison  ash,  in  the  county 
of  Westchester,  in  the  province  of  New- York, 
was  put  into  a  hive  and  removed  to  the  place 
where  it  was  to  remain.  Next  morning  the 
Bees  were  found  dead,  swelled  to  double 
their  natural  size,  and  black,  except  a  few, 
which  appeared  torpid  and  feeble,  and  soon 
died  on  exposure  to  the  air.     This  was  at- 


40  TREATISE    ON    THE 

tributed  to  their  being  poisoned,  not  by  their 
having  fed  upon,  but  by  the  effluvia  of  the 
Rhus  vernix. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


HEARING. 


Considerable  difference  of  opinion  has 
prevailed  among  naturaUsts,  both  as  to  the 
existence  of  this  sense  in  Bees,  and  the  situa- 
tion of  the  organ.  Aristotle  was  doubtful 
whether  Bees  possess  this  sense.  Linnaeus 
and  Bonnet  denied  them  this  faculty  ;  and 
Huber  seems  undecided  on  the  point,  while 
a  host  of  others,  among  whom  are  ranked 
Kirby  and  Spence,  maintain  its  existence, 
and  place  the  organ  in  the  antennae. 

We  know  that  Bees  dislike  noise,  for  an 
apiary  situated  near  mills,  smithies,  or  other 
noisy  work-shops,  is  seldom  prosperous. 
The  different  modulations  of  sound,  produ- 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEE3.         41 

ced  by  the  wings  in  flying,  seem  intended  as 
a  means  of  communication  addressed  to  an 
organ  of  hearing,  as  signals  of  attack,  of  re- 
call, of  departure,  (fee.  In  consequence  of  a 
belief  in  the  reality  of  this  sense  in  Bees,  the 
practice  is  common  of  beating  sonorous  bo- 
dies at  the  moment  of  swarming,  in  order  to 
prevent  them  from  communicating  with  one 
another,  and  thus  to  present  an  obstacle  to 
their  flying  away.  We  know  also  that  many 
other  insects  possess  this  faculty  ;  and,  as  we 
observe  «n  the  proceedings  of  Bees,  the  same 
effects  which,  in  other  insects,  unquestion- 
ably proceed  from  the  sense  of  hearing,  we 
regard  these  effects  as  presumptive  evidence 
of  the  former  possessing  the  same  faculty. 

Huber  set  out  with  intimating  a  doubt  of 
its  existence, — possibly,  in  deference  to  his 
friend  Bonnett,  to  whom  his  letters  are  ad- 
dressed, and  who  was  an  unbeliever  in  its 
reality,  —yet,  in  the  end,  confesses  that  he  is 
strongly  tempted  to  believe  in  it,  or  at  least, 
to  admit  a  sense  in  Bees  analogous  to  hearing, 
observing  that  certain  sounds,  as  produced 
4* 


42  TREATISE    ON    THE 

by  Bees,  apparently  serve  as  a  signal  to  their 
companions,  and  are  followed  by  regular 
consequences,  and  that,  therefore,  they  may 
be  additional  means  of  communication  to 
those  afforded  by  the  antennae.  He  mentions 
particularly  a  sound  emitted  by  the  queen, 
which  produces  paralyzing  effects  on  the 
Bees  in  certain  circumstances.  Describing 
the  attempts  of  a  reigning  queen  to  destroy 
her  rivals,  while  yet  in  their  cells,  he  tells  us, 
that  the  Bees  on  guard  pulled  and  bit  her, 
and  drove  her  away,  in  these  circumstances 
she  emitted  the  sound  alluded  to,  standing, 
while  doing  so,  with  her  thorax  against  a 
comb,  and  her  wings  crossed  on  her  back,  in 
motion,  but  without  being  unfolded  or  far- 
ther opened. 

Whatever  might  be  the  cause  of  her  as- 
suming this  attitude,  the  Bees  were  effected 
by  it,  all  hung  down  their  heads,  and  re- 
mained motionless.  On  another  occasion, 
after  a  queen  had  put  her  rival  to  death,  she 
approached  a  royal  cell,  and  took  this  mo- 
ment to  utter  the  sound,  and  assume  that 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         43 

posture  which  strikes  the  Bees  motionless. 
This  discovery  of  Huber  has  been  brought 
forward  on  his  authority,  by  naturahsts,  as  a 
conchisive  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the 
auditory  faculty  in  Bees.  And  so  it  would 
be,  if  Huber  was  not  mistaken  in  his  supposed 
discovery.  A  voice  of  sovereignty  produ- 
cing such  powerful  and  instantaneous  effects 
on  her  subjects,  is  so  remarkable  a  property 
of  her  Bee-majesty,  that  it  would  be  desirable 
to  have  its  existence  proved  beyond  a  doubt 
by  succeeding  experiments.  With  much  con- 
fidence in  the  accuracy  of  this  distinguished 
naturalist's  observations,  I  entertain  some 
hesitation  on  the  subject  of  this  magical 
sound.  By  my  observatory  hive,  I  have 
seen  the  queen  in  all  the  circumstances,  and 
in  all  the  positions  observable  within  a  hive, 
and  have  seen  her  combating  with  a  rival 
queen,  and  have  observed  her  very  frequent- 
ly in  the  particular  situation  described  by 
Huber,  when  he  first  heard  the  commanding 
voice,  endeavoring  to  tear  open  the  cell  of  a 
rival,  and  angrily  repulsed  by  the  workers, 


44  TREATISE    ON    THE 

then  standing  at  a  little  distance  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  combj  with  her  wings  crossed 
over  her  back,  and  in  motion,  though  not 
fuily  unfolded,  and  emitting  the  clear  dis- 
tinct sound,  which  is  heard  in  a  hive  for  a 
day  or  two  before  the  departure  of  a  second 
swarm,  and  certainly  I  never  witnessed  any 
•such  effect  produced  on  the  Bees  as  Huber 
-speaks  of,  and  which,  had  it  taken  place, 
•could  not  possibly  have  escaped  my  obser- 
tion.  On  the  contrary,  the  Bees  seemed  not 
in  the  slightest  degree  affected  by  her  wrath, 
for  she  was  evidently  in  a  state  of  great  irri- 
tation, but  continued  to  giiard  the  cell  of  the 
captive  queen  with  a  dogged-looking  obsti- 
nacy, apparently  expecting  and  prepared  for 
another  attempt  on  it  by  the  enraged  sove- 
reign, Huber  may  be  in  the  right,  and  his 
general  accuracy  affords  a  presumption  in 
his  fevor :  nevertheless,  it  would  be  very 
satisfactory  to  have  his  acuracy,  in  this  par- 
ticular point,  confirmed  by  some  other  ob- 
server. Taking  it  for  granted,  that  the  sense 
of  hearing  does  exist  in  Bees,  where  are  we 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         45 

to  look  for  the  situation  of  the  organ.  Na- 
turahsts  are  not  agreed  on  this  point,  but  the 
majority  vest  it  in  the  antennae.  Kirby  and 
Spence  notice  the  analogy  borne  by  the  an- 
tennae to  the  ears  of  vertebrated  animals, 
such  as  their  corresponding  in  number,  and 
standing  out  of  the  head,  and  observe  that 
no  other  organ  has  been  found  which  can  be 
supposed  to  represent  the  ear.  In  that  case, 
this  appendage  of  the  head  of  the  Bee,  must 
be  regarded  as  a  compound  organ,  exercising 
the  functions  of  both  hearing  and  touch.  It 
has  already  been  hinted  that  some  observers 
have  regarded  it  as  the  organ  of  vision  ;  and 
we  shall  afterwards  find  that  there  are  those 
who  look  upon  it  as  the  organ  of  smell.  In 
this  deficiency  of  precise  knowledge  on  the 
subject,  we  may  perhaps  rest  satisfied  with 
the  opinion  of  Kirby,  that,  the  antennae,  by  a 
peculiar  structure,  may  collect  notices  from 
the  atmosphere,  receive  pulses  or  vibrations, 
and  communicate  them  to  the  sensorium, 
which  communication  ,though  not  precisely 
to  be  called  hearing,  may  answer  the  same 


46 


TREATISE    ON    THE 


purpose.  The  same  author  gives  an  anec- 
dote of  another  insect,  which  goes  to  prove 
that  the  antennae  aie  indeed  the  organs  of 
this  sense  :  "  A  Httle  moth  was  reposing  on 
my  window ;  1  made  a  quiet,  not  loud,  but 
distinct  noise  ;  the  nearest  antennae  imme- 
diately moved  towards  me ;  I  repeated  the 
noise  at  least  a  dozen  times,  and  it  was  fol- 
lowed every  time  by  the  same  motion  of  that 
organ,  till  at  length  the  insect  being  alarm- 
ed, became  agitated  and  violent  in  its  motions. 
In  this  instance  it  could  not  be  touch,  since 
the  antennaae  were  not  applied  to  a  surface, 
but  directed  towards  the  quarter  from  which 
the  sound  came,  as  if  to  listen." 


CHAPTER  VII. 


SMELLING. 


Of  all  their  senses  that  of  smell  in  Bees  is 
the  most  acute.     Attracted  by  the  fragance 


MANAGEMENT    OF   HCTNEY    BEES.        4.T 

of  the  flowers,  we  see  them  winging  their 
eager  way  to  a  very  considerable  distance,  in 
a  straight  undeviating  course,,  and  in  the 
very  teeth  of  a  strong  wind,  in  search  of 
those  plants  which  promise  an  abundant 
honey-harvest.  Very  striking  proefs  of  the 
acuteness  of  this  sense  may  be  observed 
within  the  limits  of  the  apiary.  Early  in 
springs  when  the  bee-master  begins  feeding 
his  colony^  he  has  reason  to  marvel  at  the 
instantaneous  notice  which  this  organ  gives 
them,  of  his  approach.  Arriving  amongst  his 
hives,  though  frc-m  the  chillness  of  a  spring 
morning,  not  a  Bee  is  seen  stirring  out  of 
doors,  he  has  not  time  to  fill  the  feeding- 
troughs  from  the  vessel  in  his  handy  before 
he  is  surrounded  by  hundreds,  and  in  the 
space  of  five  minutes  or  less^  the  float-board 
of  every  trough  is  covered  with  a  dense  mass 
of  eager  feeders.  In  feeding  a  newly-lodged 
swarm,  during  unfavorable  weather  in  sum- 
mer, it  is  curious  to  observe,  through  the 
glass,  the  motionless  hemispherical  mass  at 
the  ceiling  of  the  hive,  becoming  instantane- 


48  TREATISE    ON    THE 

ously  elongated,  and  changed  into  the  form 
of  an  inverted  Uving  pyramid,  having  its 
apex  resting  on  the  sides  of  the  hive,  while  a 
score  or  two  of  stragglers,  who  have  in  the 
confusion  been  separated  or  have  fallen  from 
the  mass  above,  hasten  along,  snuffing  the 
grateful  fragrance,  ranging  themselves  in  a 
line  on  the  edge  of  the  trough,  and  eagerly 
plunging  their  probosces  into  the  liquid. 
It  is  to  their  exquisite  sense  of  smell  also,  in 
all  likelihood,  that  we  must  attribute  their 
capability  of  distinguishing  friend  from  foe, 
among  their  own  species.  If  a  stranger  Bee 
by  mistake  enter  a  hive,  and  this  sometimes 
happens,  in  consequence  of  some  slight  alte- 
ration in  the  arrangement  of  the  apiary,  his 
close  resemblance  to  his  fellow-insects  will 
not  secure  him  from  an  immediate  attack 
from  all  quarters  ;  he  is  detected  by  a  more 
subtle  sense  than  vision,  and  instant  flight 
alone  can  save  him.  Huber,  to  whose  re- 
searches we  are  so  much  indebted  in  regard 
to  the  senses  of  Bees,  has  made  some  very 
conclusive  experiments  on  that  of  smell,  all 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        49 

of  which  I  have  repeated  with  precisely  the 
same  resuUs.  Like  his,  our  first  experiment 
was  to  ascertain  the  acuteness  of  the  sense. 
He  concealed  a  vessel  with  honey  behind  the 
shutters  of  an  open  window,  near  the  apiary. 
In  my  experiment,  a  small  box,  containing  a 
portion  of  honey  mingled  with  water,  and 
covered  with  a  piece  of  wire-gauze,  was 
placed  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred  yards 
from  the  apiary,  where  it  was  by  no  means 
conspicuous.  In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  a  Bee 
alighted  on  the  box,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
more,  while  this  Bee  was  eagerly  exploring 
and  striving  to  gain  an  entrance,  several 
more  joined  it.  The  cover  was  then  raised, 
and  admission  given  ;  and  after  the  first  visi- 
tors had  gone  off  with  a  belly-full,  the  feeders 
increased  in  the  space  of  an  hour  to  hun- 
dreds. In  another  instance,  a  neighbor  of 
mine  living  on  the  next  block  from  me, 
bought  a  hive  of  honey  for  his  own  consump- 
tion, and  kept  it  in  the  back  part  of  his  yard, 
covered  up,  and  they  would  go  and  cut  out 
a  piece  as  they  wished  it  for  their  own  use, 


50  TREATISE    ON    THE 

and  ill  the  spring  my  Bees  got  access  to  if^ 
took  all  the  honey  and  left  them  the  empty 
comb.     To  diversify  the  trial,  Huber  pro- 
cured four  small  boxes,  to  the  apertures  of 
which,  large  enough  to  admit  a  Bee,  he  fitted 
shutters  or  valves,  made  of  card-paper,  which 
it  was  necessary  should  be  forced  open  in 
order  to  gain  admission.     Honey  being  put 
into  them,  they  were  placed  at  the  distance 
of  two  hundred  paces  from  the  apiary.     In 
half  an  hour,  Bees  were  seen  arriving,  care- 
fully traversing  the  boxes  ;  they  soon  disco- 
vered   the    openings,    pressed  against    the 
valves,  and  reached  the  honey.     This  is  a 
striking  instance  of  the  delicacy  of  smell  in 
these  insects,  as  not  only  was  the  honey  quite 
concealed  from  view,  but  its  odorous  effluvia, 
from  its  being  covered  and  disguised  in  the 
experiment,  could  not  be  much  diffused.     I 
repeated  successfully  similar  experiments. 
In  fact,  after  the  first  trial,  I  had  no  doubt 
of  the  issue  of  the  second  ;  for  if  once  the 
sense  of  smell  in  the  Bees  ascertained  the  ex- 
istence and  situation  of  the  honey,  I  had  seen 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         51 

enough  of  their  ingenuity  in  other  cases,  not 
to  doubt  their  success  in  obtaining  entrance. 
In  endeavoring  to  ascertain  the  precise 
situation  of  the  organ,  there  is  considerable 
difficuhy.  Ruber's  experiment  to  ascertain 
this  point,  is  full  of  interest,  and  we  recom- 
mend a  perusal  of  the  account  of  it  as  de- 
tailed in  his  work.  He  dipped  a  pencil  in 
oil  of  turpentine,  a  substance  very  disagree- 
able to  insects,  and  presented  it  to  the  thorax, 
the  stigmata,  the  abdomen,  the  antennae,  the 
eyes,  and  the  proboscis,  without  the  Bee  be-' 
traying  the  slightest  symptom  of  uneasy  feel- 
ing. It  was  otherwise  when  he  held  it  to  the 
mouth  ;  it  started,  left  the  honey  by  which  it 
had  been  enticed,  and  was  on  the  point  of 
taking  flight,  when  the  pencil  was  with- 
drawn. He  next  filled  the  mouth  with  flour- 
paste,  when  the  insect  seemed  to  have  lost 
the  sense  of  smell  altogether.  Honey  did 
not  attract  it,  nor  did  offensive  odors,  even 
the  formidable  turpentine,  annoy  it.  The 
organ  of  smell,  therefore,  appears  to  reside 
in  the  mouth,  or  in  the  parts  depending  on 


52  TREATISE    ON    THE 

it.  To  those  who  may  wish  to  repeat  this 
experiment,  I  would  recommend  that  they 
previously  deprive  the  Bee  under  operation 
of  a  portion  of  its  sting,  which  may  be  easily 
done,  by  forcing  the  insect  to  extrude  it,  and 
then  snipping  it  off,  about  the  middle,  with  a 
pair  of  scissors  ;  the  excision  will  not  vitally 
injure  the  insect,  and  will  give  confidence  to 
the  experimenter. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  disquisition  on  the 
sense  of  smell  in  Bees,  without  gratifying  my 
readers  by  extracting  from  Dr.  Bevan's  work, 
a  remarkable  instance  of  its  acuteness  and 
delicacy  ;  and  which  had  been  communica- 
ted to  him,  by  the  son  of  the  gentleman  who 
is  the  subject  of  it.  It  is  generally  believed 
that  Bees  have  an  antipathy  to  particular  in- 
dividuals, arising,  probably,  from  some  pe- 
culiar odor  about  them,  which,  though  not 
discernable  by,  or  unpleasant  to  man,  may  be 
so  to  this  sensitive  insect.  Mr.  Wildman  had 
for  years  been  a  proprietor  and  admirer  of 
Bees,  and  would  approach  them  with  impu- 
nity.    He  would  at  any  time  search  for  the 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        53 

quoeiij  and  taking  hold  of  her  gently,  place 
her  on  his  hand.  But  he  was  unfortunately 
attacked  with  a  violent  fever,  and  long  con- 
fined by  it.  On  his  recovery  he  attempted 
to  resume  his  favorite  amusement  among 
the  Bees,  returning  to  them  with  all  that  con- 
fidence and  pleasure  which  he  had  felt  on 
former  occasions;  when,  to  his  great  sur- 
prise and  disappointment,  he  discovered  that 
he  was  no  longer  in  possession  of  their  fa- 
vor ;  and  that,  instead  of  being  received  by 
them  as  an  old  friend,  he  was  treated  as  a 
trespasser;  nor  was  he  ever  able  after  this 
period  to  perform  any  operation  with  them, 
or  to  approach  within  their  precincts,  with- 
out exciting  their  anger.  Here  then  itispretty 
evident,  that  some  change  had  taken  place 
in  the  counsellor's  secretions,  in  consequence 
of  the  fever,  which,  though  not  noticeable  by 
his  friends,  was  offensive  to  the  Bees. 


54  TREATISE    ON    THE 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    INMATES    OF    A    HIVE. 

A  HIVE  consists  of  the  queen  or  mother- 
Bee,  the  workers  or  neuters,  varying  in  num- 
bers from  10,000  to  20,000,  or  30,000,  and 
the  males  or  drones,  from  5  to  700,  and  dou- 
ble that  number. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


OP    THE    aUEEN    BEE. 


The  queen  Bee  is  easily  distinguished 
from  other  Bees  by  the  form  and  size,  and 
her  color  tends  to  a  deeper  yellow.  The 
slowness,  or  even  gravity  of  her  march,  her 
stature,  and  above  all,  the  various  homage 
paid  her  by  the  Bees,  characterize  her  in  a 
distinguished  manner.    She  is  larger,  longer 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         55 

at  least,  and  her  wings  are  shorter  in  pro- 
portion to  her  size,  than  those  of  other  Bees. 
The  wings  of  drones  and  of  common  work- 
ing Bees  cover  their  bodies,  but  those  of  the 
queen  scarcely  reach  beyond  the  middle. 
Her  hinder  part  tapers  more  than  the  corres- 
ponding part  of  other  Bees,  something  in  the 
shape  of  a  sugar  loaf,  and  is  admirably  adapt- 
ed for  the  purpose  of  being  introduced  into 
the  cells  to  deposit  her  eggs,  which  she  does 
without  being  incommoded  by  her  wings,  as 
she  no  doubt  would  be  were  they  long  in 
proportion  to  the  length  of  her  body.  Con- 
sidering then  the  office  she  has  to  perform, 
the  shortness  of  her  wings,  and  the  length 
and  tapering  of  her  body  are  alike  conveni- 
ences to  her,  her  belly  and  legs  are  yellower, 
and  her  upper  parts  darker  than  those  of 
other  Bees.  Though  furnished  with  a  sting, 
she  very  rarely  uses  it,  only  at  the  approach 
of  another  queen,  and  will  bear  being  hand- 
led without  being  provoked.  A  young  queen 
is  smaller  than  a  full  grown  one.  When  three 
or  four  days  old  she  is  quick  in  her  motions  j 


56  TREATISE    ON    TPIE 

but  when  impregnated  she  becomes  heavy. 
The  queen  is  the  parent  of  the  hive,  and  her 
sole  province  and  occupation  consist  in  lay- 
ing eggs,  from  which  originate  those  prodi- 
gious multitudes  that  people  a  hive,  and  emi- 
grate from  it  in  the  course  of  one  summer. 
In  the  height  of  the  season  her  fertility  is 
truly  astonishing,  as  she  lays  from  100  to  200 
eggs  per  day,  and  even  more  when  the  sea- 
son is  particularly  warm  and  genial,  though 
at  a  gradually  diminishing  rate,  till  the  ap- 
proach of  cold  weather  in  October. 

So  early  as  February,  she  resumes  her  la- 
bors in  the  same  department,  and  supplies 
the  great  blank  made  in  the  population  by 
the  numerous  casualties  that  take  place  be- 
tween the  end  of  summer  and  commence- 
ment of  spring.  Her  great  laying  of  the  eggs 
of  workers,  begins  generally  about  the  fifth 
day  of  her  age  ;  and  she  continues  to  deposit 
eggs  of  the  same  kind  for  the  succeeding 
eleven  months,  after  which  she  commences 
laying  those  of  males.  It  is  during  the  de- 
positing of  these  last,  that  the  Bees  are  led 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         57 

by  their  instinct  to  lay  the  foundation  of 
royal  cells,  in  which,  if  the  population  be 
abundant,  the  queen  deposits  eggs  at  inter- 
vals of  one  or  two  days  between  each.  In 
the  operation  of  laying,  which  I  have  a  thou- 
sand times  witnessed  in  my  Observatory 
hive,  the  queen  puts  her  head  into  a  cell,  and 
remains  in  that  position  about  a  second  or 
two,  as  if  to  ascertain  whether  it  is  in  a  fit 
state  to  receive  the  deposit.  She  then  with- 
draws her  head,  curves  her  body  down- 
wards, inserts  her  abdomen  into  the  cell,  and 
turns  half  round  on  herself  Having  kept 
this  position  for  a  few  seconds,  she  with- 
draws her  body,  having  in  the  meantime  de- 
posited an  egg.  She  thus  keeps  on  laying 
eggs,  day  and  night ;  and  I  have  shown  her 
to  hundreds  of  people,  laying  eggs,  some- 
thing which  they  never  before  saw.  The 
egs:  itself,  which  is  attached  to  the  bottom  of 
the  cell  by  a  glutinous  matter  with  which  it 
is  imbued,  is  of  a  slender  oval  shape,  slightly 
curved,  rather  more  pointed  in  the  lower  end 
than  in  the  other.     She  passes  on  from  cell 


58  TREATISE    ON    THE 

to  cell,  furnishing  each  with  the  germ  of  a 
future  inhabitant ;  and  during  these  proceed- 
ings she  receives  the  most  marked  and  affec- 
tionate attention  from  the  workers.  Wher- 
ever she  stops,  she  is  seen  continually  sur- 
rounded by  a  circle  of  them,  from  ten  to 
twelve,  who  caress  her  fondly  with  their  an- 
tennas, and  occasionally  supply  her  with 
food  from  their  probosces.  This  appearance 
has  given  rise  to  the  notion  commonly  en- 
tertained, and  asserted  even  by  some  natu- 
ralists, that  the  queen  is  followed  in  her  pro- 
gress through  the  hive  by  a  number  of  her 
subjects  formed  in  a  circle  round  her,  and 
these  of  course  have  been  regarded  as  the 
queen's  body  guards.  The  truth  is,  how- 
ever, that  her  Bee-majesty  has  no  attendants, 
but  wherever  she  moves  the  workers  whom 
she  encounters  in  her  progress,  instantly  and 
hurriedly  clear  the  way  before  her,  and  all 
turning  their  heads  towards  their  approach- 
ing sovereign,  lavish  their  caresses  upon  her 
with  much  apparent  affection,  and  touch  her 
softly  with  their  antennae ;  and  these  circum- 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         59 

Stances,  which  may  be  observed  every  hour 
in  the  day,  in  a  properly  constructed  glass 
hive,  have  given  rise  to  the  idea  of  guards. 
The  moment  she  has  left  the  circle  the  Bees 
who  had  surrounded  her  instantly  resume 
their  labors,  and  she  passes  on,  receiving 
from  every  group  in  her  way  the  homage 
due  to  a  mother  and  a  queen.  There  is  a 
fact  connected  with  the  instinct  of  the  queen 
in  laying  her  eggs,  which  deserves  particular 
notice,  and  which  I  have  not  seen  stated  by 
any  other  writer  on  the  subject  of  Bees. 
When  she  has  laid  a  cluster  of  eggs,  to  the 
number  of  thirty  or  forty,  more  or  less  ac- 
cording to  circumstances,  on  one  side  of  the 
comb,  instead  of  laying  in  all  the  empty  cells 
in  the  same  quarter,  she  removes  to  the  other 
side,  and  lays  in  the  cells  which  are  directly 
opposite  to  those  which  she  has  just  supplied 
with  eggs,  and,  generally  speaking,  in  none 
else.  This  mode  of  proceeding  is  of  a  piece 
with  that  wise  arrangement  which  runs 
through  all  the  operations  of  the  Bees,  and 
is  another  effect  of  that  remarkable  instinct 


60  TREATISE    ON    THE 

by  which  they  are  guided  ;  for  as  they  clus- 
ter closely  in  those  parts  of  the  comb  which 
are  filled  with  brood,  in  order  to  concentrate 
the  heat  for  their  being  hatched,  the  heat 
will  of  course  penetrate  to  the  other  side,  and 
some  portion  of  it  would  be  wasted  if  the 
cells  on  that  side  were  either  empty  or  filled 
only  with  honey.  But  when  both  sides  are 
filled  with  brood,  and  covered  with  hive 
Bees,  the  heat  is  confined  to  the  spot  where 
it  is  necessary,  and  is  turned  to  full  account 
in  bringing  the  young  to  maturity. 

The  mutual  aversion  of  queens  is  a  stri- 
king feature  in  the  natural  history  of  this  in- 
sect ;  and  though  not  perhaps  strictly  in 
place,  one  extraordinary  eflTect  of  it  may  be 
mentioned  here.  Their  mutual  enmity  may 
be  truly  said  to  be  an  inborn  disposition  with 
them,  for  no  sooner  has  the  first  of  the  race 
in  a  hive  about  to  throw  off  a  second  swarm, 
escaped  from  her  own  cradle,  than  she  hur- 
ries away  in  search  of  those  of  her  rivals, 
and,  as  will  be  afterwards  described,  exerts 
herself  with  the  most  impetuous  eagerness  to 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.  61 

destroy  them.  I  have  witnessed  this  inter- 
esting exhibition  of  Bee  warfare,  as  descri- 
bed by  Huber  :  I  have  seen  two  queens  that 
happened  to  emerge  from  their  cells  at  the 
same  time,  and  saw  them  come  in  contact 
with  each  other,  when  a  pitched  battle  took 
place,  which  generally  ends  in  the  death  of 
one  of  the  combatants. 

CHAPTER  X. 

OF    THE    WORKER    BEE. 

The  workers,  to  the  number  of  10,000; 
20,000,  30,000,  and  even  40,000,  constitute 
the  great  mass  of  the  population,  and  on 
them  devolve  the  whole  labors  of  the  estab- 
lishment. Theirs  is  the  office  of  searching 
for  and  collecting  the  precious  fluid,  which 
not  only  furnishes  their  daily  food,  as  well 
as  that  of  their  young,  and  the  surplus  of 
which  is  laid  up  for  winter  stores,  but  also 
the  materials  from  which  they  rear  their 
beautiful  combs.  In  the  little  basket-shaped 
6 


62  TREATISE    ON    THE 

cavity  ia  their  hind  legs,  they  bring  home 
the  pollen  or  farinaceous  dust  of  flowers, 
kneaded  by  the  help  of  the  morning  dew  in- 
to tiny  balls,  which  form  an  important  in- 
gredient in  the  nourishment  of  the  brood ; 
and  also  the  propolis  or  adhesive  gum  ex- 
tracted from  willows,  &c.  with  which  they 
attach  their  combs  to  the  upper  part  and 
sides  of  the  hive,  and  stop  every  crevice  that 
might  admit  the  winter's  cold.  Exploring  a 
glass  hive  in  a  soft  spring  morning,  and  fol- 
lowing with  your  eye  a  Bee  loaded  with  fa- 
rina, the  observer  will  perceive  the  little  ac- 
tive forager  on  her  arrival  in  the  interior, 
hurrvinof  over  the  surface  of  the  comb  in 
search  of  a  proper  cell  in  which  to  deposit 
her  burden ;  and  having  found  one,  fasten- 
ing herself  by  the  two  fore  feet  on  its  supe- 
rior border,  then  bending  her  body  a  little 
forward,  that  her  hinder  feet  may  catch  hold 
of  the  opposite  edge  of  the  cell.  In  this  po- 
sition she  is  next  seen  thrusting  back  her 
second  pair  of  feet,  one  on  each  side,  and 
sweeping  with  them   from  top  to  bottom 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        G3 

along  the  two  hinder  legs,  where  the  farina 
balls  are  fixed,  and  by  this  means  detaching 
them  from  the  hairy  linings  of  the  cavities, 
and  depositing  them  in  the  cell.  To  the 
workers,  also,  are  committed  the  various  of- 
fices of  guarding  the  entrance  of  the  hive  by 
night  and  day,  during  the  honey  season,  of 
repulsing  marauders,  of  keeping  their  abode 
free  from  all  ofiensive  matters,  of  renewing 
the  air  within  by  an  ingenious  mode  of  ven- 
tilation, of  replacing  a  lost  queen,  and  of  de- 
stroying the  drones  at  the  decline  of  the 
honey  season. 

Receiving  from  nature  these  weighty 
charges,  they  labor  assiduously  to  fulfil 
them ;  and,  while  each  member  of  the  com- 
munity acts  by  the  impulse  of  its  individual 
instinct,  it  works  less  for  private  than  for  the 
general  good.  These  labors  appear  unceas- 
ing ;  yet  do  the  weary  laborers  sometimes 
snatch  an  interval  of  repose.  During  the 
busy  season  I  have  seen  hundreds  of  the 
workers  retiring  into  the  cells,  and  exhibit- 
ing all  the  marks  of  profound  sleep.     This 


64  TREATISE    ON    THE 

fact  is  very  easily  observable,  especially  in 
those  cells  which  are  constructed,  as  some- 
times happens,  against  the  glass,  and  where 
that  substance  forms  one  side  of  the  cell. 
There  they  are,  the  fatigued  laborers,  stretch- 
ed at  full  length,  with  their  heads  at  the  bot- 
tom, and  every  limb  apparently  in  a  relaxed 
state,  while  the  little  body  is  seen  heaving 
gently  from  the  process  of  respiration.  Ru- 
ber thinks  he  has  ascertained  that  there  are 
two  kinds  of  workers  in  a  hive,  one  of  which 
he  calls  wax  workers,  and  the  other  nurses. 
It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  naturalists 
were  acquainted  with  the  different  functions, 
if  the  difference  really  does  exist,  of  the  two 
classes.  The  office  of  the  jfirst  class,  accord- 
ing to  Huber,  is  not  only  to  collect  honey, 
which  both  kinds  do,  but  also  to  elaborate 
the  wax  and  construct  the  combs.  The  par- 
ticular function  of  the  other,  is  to  take  care 
of  the  young.  They  may  be  distinguished 
in  entering  the  hive  by  carefully  examining 
their  shape,  the  wax  workers  having  their 
bellies  somewhat  cylindrical,  while  those  of 


MANAGEMENT    OP    HONEY    BEES.         65 

the  nurses  retain  their  ovoidal  figure.  The 
anatomical  structure  of  the  two  is  said  to  be 
different,  and  the  capacity  of  stomach  not 
the  same ;  so  that  the  one  species  is  incapa- 
ble of  fulfilling  all  the  functions  of  the  other. 
Huber  has  also  directed  our  attention  to  a 
class  of  workers,  which  he  calls  black  Bees. 
In  every  thing  they  bear  a  perfect  resem- 
blance to  their  fellow-workers,  except  in  co- 
lor, which  in  them  is  a  deep  black.  He 
describes  them  as  persecuted  by  the  other 
workers,  and  finally  expelled  the  hives  or 
destroyed. 

I  have  noticed  them,  though  rarely,  per- 
haps not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  in  a  season. 
The  other  Bees  did  not  molest  them,  as  far 
as  I  observed,  nor  indeed  seem  in  any  way 
sensible  of  their  presence.  It  is  not  impro- 
bable that  they  are  merely  aged  Bees,  and 
that  their  deeper  color  arises  from  the  hair 
or  down  with  which  the  young  are  so  thick- 
ly clothed,  being  worn  off  their  bodies.  In 
describing  the  functions  of  the  working  Bee, 
it  would  be  improper  to  pass  over  unnoticed 


66  TREATISE    ON    THE 

the  fact,  that  it  sometimes  exercises  the  func- 
tions of  a  mother.  To  account  for  this  ap- 
parent anomaly,  we  must  remember  that  it 
has  been  ascertained  by  minutely  accurate 
dissection,  that  all  the  workers  are  females, 
though  of  imperfect  organization,  a  fact  con- 
firmed by  the  very  circumstance  I  am  now 
discussing.  We  must  also  keep  in  mind,  that 
the  larva  of  a  queen  is  nourished  with  food 
of  a  different  kind  from  that  of  common  Bees ; 
and  this  difference,  in  conjunction  with  a 
more  roomy  cell,  has,  in  the  opinion  of  na- 
turalists, the  effect  of  expanding  the  ovarium, 
■and  qualifying  her  to  become  a  mother.  It 
is  evident,  therefore,  that,  if  the  larva  of  a 
common  Bee  were  fed  with  the  royal  jel- 
ly, the  imperfection  in  her  bodily  organs 
would,  as  far  at  least  as  depended  on  the 
nature  of  the  food,  be  removed,  and  she 
would  become  capable  of  laying  eggs.  Now 
this  does  occasionally  take  place  ;  some  of 
the  royal  food  is  dropped,  probably  by  acci- 
dent, into  some  of  the  cells  adjoining  that  of 
the  queen,  and  the  Bees  therein  reared  ac- 


MANAGEMENT    OP    HONEY    BEES.        67 

quire  the  power  of  laying  eggs.     This  fact 
was  discovered  by  the  naturalist  Riem,  and 
has  been  confirmed  by  Huber.     There  is, 
however,  a  very  material  and  hitherto  unac- 
counted for  ditference  between  these  fertile 
workers  and  perfect  queens,  the  former  lay 
the  eggs  of  males  only.     I  would  certainly 
have  expected,  a  priori^  that  a  difference  be- 
tween them  should  exist,  because  the  work- 
ers have   fed  on  the  royal  jelly  only  for  a 
short  time,  and  because  their  birth-place  is 
so  much  smaller.     But  I  cannot  easily  con- 
ceive how  these  circumstances  should  be  the 
cause  of  their  laying  only  male  eggs.     In 
truth,  it  appears  to  be  one  of  those  mysteries 
in    Bee-economy   which,  with    all    my  re- 
searches on  the  subject,  I  cannot  yet  unra- 
vel.    These  fertile  workers  are  never  found 
in  any  hives  but  such  as  have  lost  their  na- 
tural queen.    The  natural  term  of  the  work- 
er's existence  does  not  extend,  1  think,  be- 
yond from  twelve  to  eighteen  months.     But 
many  never  reach  that  period.     Showers  of 
rain,  violent  blasts  of  wind,  sudden  changes 


68  TREATISE    ON    THE 

of  atmosphere,  destroy  them  in  hundreds. 
In  the  clear  cold  mornings  and  evenings  of 
autumn,  their  eagerness  for  foraging  entices 
them  abroad  early  and  late ;  when,  alighting 
on  the  ground,  many  are  chilled  and  quickly 
perish ;  and  should  they  escape  the  blight- 
ing atmosphere  of  the  close  of  autumn,  a 
bright  sunshine  in  a  winter  day,  when  the 
ground  perhaps  is  covered  v/ith  snow,  brings 
them  abroad  in  multitudes,  and  the  half  of 
them  never  return.  From  these  causes,  in- 
dependent of  the  numbers  which  fall  a  prey 
to  enemies,  a  swarm  which,  in  July  amount- 
ed to  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand,  will,  by  the 
following  February  or  March,  have  dwin- 
dled to  a  mere  handful  It  is  otherwise 
with  the  queen;  going  seldom  abroad,  she 
is  little  exposed  to  accidents.  Her  natural 
life  is  prolonged  to  several  years,  though  the 
precise  extent  has  not  been  accurately  ascer- 
tained ;  yet  they  have  been  known  to  live 
three  or  four  years. 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         69 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    DRONE    BEE. 

The  drones  are  larger  than  the  others  ; 
their  heads  are  round,  eyes  full,  and  their 
tongues  short,  they  are  also  much  darker 
and  differ  in  the  form  of  the  belly ;  they 
have  no  sting  and  they  make  a  greater  noise 
in  flying  than  the  common  Bees.  The  sole 
office  of  the  male,  or  at  least  the  primary 
one,  is  to  pair  with  the  queen.  He  is  the  fa- 
ther of  the  hive.  Indolent  and  luxurious, 
he  takes  no  part  in  the  internal  operations  of 
the  domicil,  and  never  leaves  it  with  a  view 
of  sharing  in  the  labors  of  the  field.  When 
he  does  venture  abroad,  it  is  only  in  the  fi- 
nest weather,  and  during  the  warmest  part 
of  the  day,  at  which  time  the  young  queens 
are  instinctively  led  to  go  out  in  search  of 
the  male.  The  life  of  the  drone  is  extreme- 
ly short ;  the  favored  lover  perishes  soon 
after  his  union  with  the  female,  and  thus  an- 


70  TREATISE    ON    THE 

ticipatssj  though  only  by  a  short  period,  the 
destruction  which  awaits  his  race.  So  early 
as  the  beginning  of  August,  the  Bees,  as  if 
wishing  to  apply  the  preventive  check,  to  a 
superabundant  idle  population,  begin  to  ma- 
nifest deadly  intentions  towards  them ;  and 
the  unfortunate  victims,  as  if  to  derive  con- 
solation from  one  another's  society,  or  per- 
haps driven  together  by  their  irascible  supe- 
riors, may  be  seen  about  that  period  cluster- 
ing closely  together  in  some  corner  of  the 
combs,  where  they  remain  without  motion, 
and  without  once  venturing  to  approach  the 
provision  cells. 

Thus  weakened  by  hunger  and  captivity, 
and  disqualified  for  resistance  by  the  want  of 
a  sting,  they  fall  an  easy  prey  to  their  mer- 
ciless assailants;  and  a  scene  of  carnage  takes 
place  which  it  is  diificult  to  describe.  The 
unhappy  wretches  are  seen  driven  to  the 
bottom  of  the  hive,  and  pursued  with  such 
fury,  that,  in  spite  of  their  strength,  which 
is  greatly  superior  to  that  of  their  persecu- 
tors, and  which  enables  them  to  drag  two  or 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         71 

three  of  their  assailants  along  the  board,  and 
even  to  fly  off  with  them,  they  are  unable 
to  avoid  the  mortal  thrust  of  their  formidable 
stings,  and  expire  instantaneously  from  the 
effects  of  the  poison.     But  death  overtakes 
them  in   various  forms ;  for   their  enemies 
sometimes  seize  them  by  the  wings,  and  with 
their  strong   mandibles  gnaw  them  at  the 
roots,  and  disable  them  from  flying.     They 
may  then  be  seen  in  numbers  crawling  on  the 
ground,  where  they  perish  from  the  cold,  or 
are  trampled  under  foot,  and  devoured  by 
birds  or  frogs.     Such  as  escape  for  a  while, 
may  be  seen  flying  from  destruction,  lighting 
on  the  shrubs  and  flowers  to  enjoy  a  moment's 
respite  from  their  terrors  ;  or  buzzing  about 
from  hive  to  hive,  into  one  of  which  they  no 
sooner  enter,  than  certain  death  awaits  them. 
Nay,  so  bitter  is  the  fury  of  their  tormentors, 
that,  not  satisfied  with  destroying  these  un- 
happy beings  themselves,  they  tear  from  the 
cells  such  of  the  doomed  race  as  are  yet  in 
the  state  of  larvae,  and  sucking  from  their 
bodies,  with  instinctive  economy,  the  fluids 


72  TREATISE    ON    THE 

they  contain,  cast  the  lifeless  remains  out  of 
the  hive.  There  are  cases,  however,  in  which 
this  destruction  of  males  does  not  take  place. 
"  In  hives  that  have  lost  their  queen,"  says 
Huber,  "  the  males  are  spared,  and,  while  a 
savage  massacre  rages  in  other  hives,  they 
here  find  an  asylum.  They  are  tolerated 
and  fed,  and  many  are  seen  even  in  the  mid- 
die  of  January.  The  cause  of  this  may  per- 
haps be  looked  for  in  the  additional  heat 
which  they  would  generate  in  winter ;  or, 
perhaps,  they  may  be  preserved  for  the  pur- 
pose of  pairing  with  a  new  queen. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

IMPREGNATION    OF    THE    QUEEN    BEE. 

In  looking  into  a  hive  in  spring  or  sum- 
mer, the  queen  will  be  seen  laying  eggs  in 
the  cells;  in  the  smaller  cells,  those  of  work- 
ers, and  in  the  larger,  those  of  males  or  drones. 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        73 

These  eggs,  if  examined  on  the  fourth  day 
from  their  being  deposited,  will  be  found 
hatched,  and  a  small  worm  produced,  which 
is  floating  in  a  whitish  liquid,  ascertained  to 
be  food  introduced  for  the  nourishment  of 
the  infant  brood ;  and  in  due  time  a  perfect 
Bee  emerges  from  the  cell.  But  how  is  this 
living  animal  generated  ?  The  queen  lays 
the  egg,  without  doubt,  and  the  insect  is 
evolved  from  it ;  but  how  is  the  egg  fecun- 
dated or  rendered  fertile  ?  Has  the  queen 
had  personal  union  with  the  male  ?  No  one 
can  speak  positively  to  such  a  fact ;  by  what 
other  means,  then,  is  this  eflect  produced? 
The  impregnation  of  the  Queen  Bee  is  a 
branch  of  natural  history  which  has  given 
rise  to  more  discussion,  than  almost  any 
other  fact  connected  with  the  nature  of  the 
insect.  And  indeed  the  difiiculty,  we  might 
almost  say  impossibility,  of  obtaining  any 
thing  like  ocular  evidence  on  the  subject, 
will  readily  account  for  the  diversity  of  opin- 
ion that  has  hitherto  prevailed.  And  we 
should  hope  that  this  difficulty  alone,  and  not 


74  TREATISE    ON    THE 

any  preconceived  theory  or  unreasonable 
prejudice,  is  the  cause  of  that  determined 
pertinacity  with  which  the  discoveries  and 
conclusions  of  Huber,  on  this  subject,  are 
still  in  some  instances  rejected.  That  justly 
celebrated  naturalist  instituted  a  set  of  ex- 
periments on  the  subject  of  the  queen's  im- 
pregnation, the  result  of  which  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  takes  place  in  the  air. 
Though  I  was  once  inclined  to  differ  in 
opinion  with  Huber  on  the  subject,  from  what 
I  have  seen  in  my  observatory  hive,  this 
summer,  (1841),  I  am  led  to  conclude  the 
accuracy  of  that  remark.  I  had  a  queen, 
which  left  the  hive  about  the  third  day  of  her 
ao"e,  as  I  supposed,  for  impregnation,  but  she 
never  returned  to  the  hive  again,  and  so  left 
it  without  a  queen.  I  had  to  supply  them 
with  a  queen  from  another  hive.  I  condemn 
no  man  who  differs  from  me  on  this  nice 
subject,  as  I  have  no  direct  proof.  My  great 
object  is  not  to  dispute  with  the  naturalist, 
the  philosopher,  or  with  the  apiarian,  how 
the  Q,ueen  Bee  becomes  impregnated  :  be- 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        75 

cause,  be  that  as  it  may,  it  is^  no  doubt,  con- 
sistent with  the  law  of  nature  ;  it  is,  no 
doubt,  a  part  of  that  all  prevailing  law,  and 
though  hitherto  undiscovered,  I  do  cherish 
strong  hopes  that  the  observatory-hive  I  have 
constructed,  will,  on  some  auspicious  future 
day,  disclose  such  facts  as  will  set  the  matter 
to  rest  for  ever. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

RETARDED    IMPREGNATION. 

There  is  a  fact  connected  with  this  part 
of  the  natural  history  of  the  Mother  Bee, 
which  involves  great  difficulties.  The  fact 
itself  was  discovered  by  Huber,  but  its  cause 
he  was  unable  to  develop,  and  no  succeeding 
naturalist  has  been  able  to  free  it  from  the 
obscurity  in  which  he  has  left  it ;  I  mean 
the  effects  of  retarded  impregnation.  These 
effects  are  sueh  as  I  could  hardly  credit,  were 


76  TREATISE    ON    THE 

not  the  fact  confirmed  by  numerous  experi- 
ments. If  impregnation  be  delayed  longer 
than  twenty  days  from  the  queen's  birth,  the 
consequence  is  that  none  but  male  eggs  are 
laid,  even  during  the  whole  of  the  queen's 
life.  This  phenomenon  has  baffled  every  at- 
tempt to  explain  its  cause.  There  are  mys- 
teries in  the  operations  of  nature,  both  in 
reference  to  the  rational  and  irrational  crea- 
tion, which  will,  probably,  for  ever  remain 
inscrutable  to  man.  In  the  natural  state  of 
things,  that  is,  when  fecundation  has  not  been 
postponed,  the  queen  lays  the  eggs  of  work- 
ers' in  forty-six  hours  after  her  union  with 
the  male,  and  continues  for  the  subsequent 
eleven  months  to  produce  these  alone;  and 
it  is  only  after  this  period  that  a  considerable 
laying  of  the  eggs  of  drones  commences. 
Huber  asserts  that  before  a  queen  com- 
mences her  great  laying  of  male  eggs,  she 
must  be  eleven  months  old.  But  he  ac- 
knowledges that  a  queen,  hatched  in  spring, 
will  perhaps  lay  fifty  or  sixty  eggs  of  drones 
in  the  whole,  during  the  course  of  the  ensu- 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         77 

ing  summer.  I  know  this  to  be  true,  from 
my  own  experience,  and  also,  as  the  usual 
consequence  of  this  appearance  of  male  eggs, 
that  the  Bees  commence  building  royal  cells, 
the  queen  lays  in  them,  and  swarming  takes 
place.  Now  this  partial  laying  of  drones' 
eggs  takes  place  only  in  the  case  of  very  early 
swarms,  and  if  the  weather  be  unfavorable, 
it  does  not  happen  even  in  them. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 


OF    THE    BROOD. 


In  forty-six  hours  after  impregnation,  the 
Q,ueen  Bee.  as  already  noticed,  begins  to  lay 
the  eggs  of  workers,  and  continues  to  do  so, 
without  intermission,  throughout  the  season, 
at  the  rate  of  between  100  and  200  a  day, 
unless  cold  weather  intervene,  when  her 
operations  are  suspended,  as  well  as  the 
hatching  retarded  of  the  eggs  already  laid. 
7* 


78  TREATISE    ON   THE 

The  fruitfulness  of  the  Mother  Bee  is  in- 
deed astonishing.  It  has  been  computed 
that  the  numbers  produced  in  a  hive  by  one 
queen,  during  the  laying  season,  amount  to 
100,000,  and  I  am  satisfied  the  computation 
is  correct.  In  the  beginning  of  the  year  it  is 
a  tolerably  good  stock  hive  which  possesses 
a  population  of  2000  or  3000.  Yet  that  same 
hive  shall,  in  June,  throw  ofFswarms  amount- 
ing to  40,000  or  50,000 ;  in  many  cases  the 
first  swarm  itself,  and  in  some  even  the  cast 
or  second  swarm  throws  off  a  colony  of 
10,000  or  12,000,  and  still,  at  the  end  of 
harvest,  this  original  stock  hive  shall  exhi- 
bit a  population ^of  18,000  or  20,000.  Add 
to  all  this,  in  some  instances,  though  rare,  a 
first  swarm  throws  off  two  colonies. 

Before  depositing  her  eggs,  the  queen  care- 
fully examines  the  cell,  inserting  her  head 
into  it  and  keeping  it  there  for  a  second  or 
two,  and,  as  already  stated,  after  having  laid 
a  few  eggs  on  one  side,  and  with  a  view 
probably  of  economizing  heat,  supplies  the 
corresponding  cells  on  that  side.     Her  im- 


MANAGEMENT    OP    HONEY    BEES.         /^ 

patience  or  necessity  to  commence  laying  is 
such,  that  in  a  newly  established  hive,  eggs 
will  be  found  before  there  are  three  inches 
square  of  comb  constructed,  and  even  before 
the  cells  have  attained  the  full  depth ;  and 
in  a  well  peopled  hive,  even  during  winter, 
and  while  the  temperature  is  chilled  by  the 
frosts  and  snows  of  January,  and  the  bleak 
winds  of  the  following  month,  the  indefati- 
gable Mother  Bee  is  found  busied  in  deposit- 
ing eggs. 

I  have  said  that  the  queen  begins  laying 
eggs  forty-six  hours  after  impregnation. 
This  does  not  hold  true  invariably.  A  sud- 
den change  of  temperature  may  prolong  the 
interval  to  a  very  considerable  extent.  Ru- 
ber had  a  queen  impregnated  in  Octoberj 
which,  on  account  of  the  inclemency  of  the 
season,  did  not  begin  laying  till  the  follow- 
ing spring.  The  eggs,  when  laid,  remain 
fixed  on  the  superior  angle  of  the  cell,  to 
which  they  are  attached  by  a  viscous  matter 
covering  them,  for  three  days  ;  on  the  fourth, 
the  shell,  or  thin  enveloping    membrane, 


80  TREATISE    ON    THE 

bursts,  and  a  small  lively  worm  is  deposited 
at  the  bottom.  The  nursing  Bees  instantly 
enter  upon  their  vocation,  and  administer  a 
copious  supply  of  liquid  food,  of  which  fa- 
rina, honey,  and  probably  water,  are  the  in- 
gredients. As  the  larva  increases  in  growth, 
the  attention  of  the  Bees  in  nourishing  it  is 
augmented  and  indeed  unremitting,  for  at 
whatever  time  we  inspect  a  brood-comb,  we 
shall  observe  hundreds  of  nurses  with  their 
bodies  inserted  in  the  supplying  of  the  wants 
of  the  infant  progeny.  Although  in  the  ver- 
micular state,  and  consequently  without  feet, 
the  larvae  are  capable  of  moving  in  a  spiral 
direction.  During  the  first  three  days,  their 
motion  is  so  slow  as  to  be  scarcely  percepti- 
ble, and  they  have  been  observed  to  perform 
two  complete  revolutions  in  not  less  than  two 
hours.  The  slightest  movement  of  the  nurse 
Bees,  approaching  to  minister  to  their  wants, 
is  sufficient  to  attract  them  to  their  food, 
which  they  devour  most  voraciously,  and  it 
is  unsparingly  lavished  upon  them.  At  first 
the  liquor  is  nearly  insipid,  but  acquires  gra- 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        SI 

dually  a  perceptible  flavor  of  honey,  and  be- 
comes more  and  more  saccharine  and  trans- 
parent, in  proportion  as  the  larva  advances 
in  growth.  It  is  indescribable,  the  care  which 
the  workers  lavish  on  these  little  nurslings, 
towards  whom  they  seem  to  cherish  the  ten- 
derest  attachment.  A  comb  filled  with  brood, 
and  placed  in  an  empty  hive,  never  fails  to 
retain  them  there,  to  the  utter  disregard  of 
the  loss  of  their  stores.  The  tenderest  mo- 
ther could  not  watch  over  her  children  with 
more  affection,  nor  supply  them  with  nourish- 
ment more  impartially,  or  in  greater  abun- 
dance ;  at  the  same  time  it  is  done  without 
waste,  for  the  quantity  is  so  proportioned  to 
the  demand,  that  none  of  it  remains  in  the 
cells  where  the  larvae  undergo  their  trans- 
formation to  the  nymph  state.  At  the  mo- 
ment of  being  hatched,  the  insect  presents 
the  appearance  of  a  small  straight  worm ; 
it  quickly  grows  so  as  to  touch  the  sides  of 
the  cell,  when  it  contracts  its  body,  and  coils 
itself  into  a  semi-circular  figure,  and  conti- 
nues enlarging  its  dimensions  till  the  extre- 


82  TREATISE    ON    THE 

mities  meet,  and  forrti  a  complete  ring.  In 
this  state  it  continues,  receiving  food  from 
its  nurses,  for  five  days,  when  it  ceases  to 
eat ;  its  supplies  are,  of  course,  cut  off,  and 
the  Bees  proceed  to  seal  up  the  sell  with  a 
waxed  cover,  of  a  brownish  color,  and  slight- 
ly convex.  Thus  left  to  itself,  the  larva  be- 
gins spinning  around  its  body,  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  silk- worm,  a  fine  silken  film  or 
cocoon,  which  completely  envelops  it.  The 
silken  thread  employed  in  forming  this  co- 
vering, Kirby  and  Spence  tells  us,  proceeds 
from  the  middle  part  of  the  under  lip,  and  is, 
in  fact,  composed  of  two  threads,  gummed 
together  as  they  issue  from  the  two  adjoin- 
ing orifices  of  the  spinner.  In  the  formation 
of  its  cocoon,  the  larva  occupies  thirty-six 
hours,  and  in  three  days  after,  it  is  metamor- 
phosed into  a  nymph  or  pupa,  terms  applied 
to  the  mummy-like  state  to  which  the  larva 
is  subjected,  previous  to  its  becoming  a  per- 
fect insect.  During  this  state  of  conceal- 
ment, various  changes  happen  to  the  enclo- 
sed insect.     The  first  change  in  its  situation 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         83 

is  its  ceasino^  to  continue  in  that  coiled  posi- 
tion in  which  it  originally  lay  at  the  bottom 
of  the  cell,  and  extending  itself  along  its 
whole  length,  with  its  head  in  the  direction 
of  the  mouth  of  the  cell.  The  head  begins 
to  appear  from  the  inert  looking  mass,  having 
a  small  protuberance,  probably  the  rudiment 
of  the  proboscis  ;  the  first  lineaments  of  the 
feet  also  appear,  thoutrh  of  diminutive  size. 
After  the  head  is  formed  and  the  proboscis 
prolonged,  all  the  other  parts  display  them- 
selves successively,  and  the  worm  is  changed 
to  the  perfect  insect,  except  that  its  outer 
covering  is  yet  white  and  soft,  and  has  not 
that  dark  scaly  texture  which,  as  a  proper 
coat  of  defence,  it  afterwards  acquires.  By 
this  transformation  the  larva  becomes  divest- 
ed of  its  cocoon,  which  is  attached  so  closely 
to  the  internal  surface  of  the  cell,  that  it  ap- 
pears to  form  part  of  its  substance,  and  adds 
considerably  to  its  thickness.  These  linings 
are  sometimes  found,  to  the  number  of  seven 
or  eight,  adhering  to  the  sides  of  the  cell, 
and  often  have  an  injurious  eifect,  diminish- 


84  TREATISE    ON    THE 

ing,  as  they  do,  the  cell's  capacity,  and  ex- 
citing, by  their  strong  smell,  the  attacks  of 
moths  and  other  enemies.  The  number  of 
linings  found  adhering  to  a  cell,  and  which 
may  be  disjoined  by  soaking  the  comb  in 
water,  indicates  the  number  of  Bees  to  which 
it  has  been  the  birth-place.  The  Bee,  thus 
stripped  of  its  silken  envelop,  and  having  all 
its  parts  unfolded  by  degrees,  and  changed, 
through  a  succession  of  colors,  from  a  dull 
white  to  black,  arrives  at  the  state  of  a  per- 
fect insect  on  the  20th  day,  counting  from  the 
time  the  egg  is  laid.  She  then  eagerly  com- 
mences the  operation  of  cutting  through, 
with  her  mandibles,  the  cover  of  her  cell, 
and  in  half  an  hour  succeeds  in  escaping 
from  her  prison.  On  quitting  her  cradle, 
she  appears,  for  a  few  seconds,  drowsy  and 
listless,  but  soon  assumes  the  agility  natural 
to  the  race,  and  on  the  same  day  on  which 
she  has  emerged  from  her  prison,  sets  out 
with  her  seniors  to  engage  in  the  labors  of 
the  field.  Some  of  the  ancient  bee-masters 
enlarge  on  the  attention  paid  by  the  seniors 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        85 

to  the  young  worker  on  emerging  from  her 
prison,  describing  them  as  licking  her  body, 
supplying  her  with  food,  and  seeming  to  in- 
struct her  in  what  is  necessary  to  render  her 
ti  useful  member  of  the  community.  These 
descriptions  have  been  repeated  by  succeed- 
ing writers  on  the  subject,  and  the  existence 
of  these  amiable  traits  in  the  kind  nurses  of 
the  young  is  taken  for  granted,  as  an  indubi- 
table fact  in  their  natural  history.  I  have 
reason,  in  consequence  of  repeated  observa- 
tions, in  my  observatory  hive,  to  disbelieve 
the  alleged  fact,  and  must,  in  accordance 
with  the  truth,  withhold  from  my  favorites 
the  unmerited  eulogiums  they  have  received 
on  this  head.  They  are,  in  fact,  in  this  par- 
ticular, harsh  and  unfeeling  in  the  extreme. 
In  hundreds  of  instances,  I  have  seen  and  pi- 
tied the  infant  insect,  when,  after  having  long 
struggled  to  get  out  of  its  cradle,  it  has  at  last 
succeeded  so  far  as  to  extrude  the  head,  and 
when  laboring  with  the  most  eager  impa- 
tience, and  on  the  very  point  of  extricating  the 
shoulders  also,  which  would  at  once  secure 
S 


86  TREATISE    ON    THE 

its  exitjadozenor  two  of  workers,  in  following 
their  avocations,  trample  without  ceremony 
over  the  strugglins:  creature^  which  is  then 
forced,  for  the  safety  of  its  head,  to  pop  quick- 
ly down  into  its  cell,  and  wait  till  the  unfeel- 
ing crowd  pass  on,  before  it  can  renew  its 
efforts  to  escape.  Again  and  again  are  the 
same  impatient  exertions  repeated  by  the 
same  individual,  and  with  similar  mortifying 
interruptions,  before  it  succeeds  in  obtaining 
its  freedom.  Not  the  slightest  attention  or 
sympathy  is  observable  on  the  part  of  the 
workers  in  these  circumstances,  nor  did  I 
ever,  in  a  single  instance,  witness  the  kind 
parental  cares  which  seem  to  owe  their  ex- 
istence to  the  fancy  of  the  writers  alluded  to. 
During  the  larva-stage,  as  I  have  shown^ 
the  solicitude  of  the  workers  about  the  wel- 
fare and  nourishment  of  their  infant  charge 
is  extreme  ;  but  from  the  moment  they  have 
sealed  up  the  cell,  and  while  the  larva  is  un- 
dergoing its  transformation,  they  seem  to 
cease  from  every  thing  like  individual  atten- 
tion, and  though  when  a  brood-comb  is  med- 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         87 

died  with  their  utmost  ire  is  kindled  against 
the  invader,  as  far  as  concerns  the  reception 
of  the  newly  hatched  insect,  and  its  intro- 
duction to  the  duties  and  avocations  of  the 
Bee  community  they  appear  altogether  self- 
ish and  indiiferent.  There  is  another  case 
in  which  this  indifference  appears  very 
striking  :  a  sudden  change  of  weather,  about 
the  end  of  autumn,  from  a  mild  temperature 
to  raw  frost,  has  such  an  immediate  effect  on 
the  brood,  that  it  is  not  uncommon  to  ob- 
serve a  young  Bee,  which  shall  have  so  far 
succeeded  in  breaking  its  prison,  as  to  extri- 
cate its  head,  and  nearly  its  shoulders,  yet 
perishing  from  the  cold  in  this  situation, 
without  the  slightest  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
workers  to  save  the  life  of  a  companion 
whose  rearing  has  already  cost  them  so  much 
labor. 

Immediately  after  the  young  Bee  has  issu- 
ed from  the  cell,  the  workers  hasten  to  clean 
it  out,  clear  away  the  ragged  remains  of  the 
cover,  fortify  it  anew  with  the  usual  strong 
bordering  of  wax,  and  thus  prepare  it  for  the 


88  TREATISE    ON    THE 

reception  of  another  esfg,  or  for  honey  or  fa« 
rina. 

I  have  hitherto  confined  my  observations 
to  the  progress  of  a  worker,  from  the  egg  to 
the  state  of  the  perfect  insect.  The  same 
process  takes  place  in  the  case  of  the  males 
and  of  the  queen,  though  with  some  differ- 
ence as  to  the  time  occupied  in  the  trans- 
formation. Like  those  of  the  common  Bees, 
the  eggs  of  the  males  are  hatched  in  three 
days,  the  larva  state  continues  six  and  a  half 
days,  and  after  having  formed  their  cocoons 
and  been  metamorphosed  into  nymphs,  they 
attain  to  the  state  of  perfect  insects  on  the 
twenty-fourth  day.  I  may  briefly  notice  here 
the  statement  of  Huber  respecting  the  order 
in  which  the  diff'erent  kinds  of  ecrcrs  are  ar- 
ranged  in  the  ovarium  of  the  queen,  and  the 
law  which  regulates  her  laying.  He  says, 
that  nature  does  not  allow  the  queen  the 
choice  of  the  eggs  she  is  to  lay,  that,  it  is  or- 
dained she  shall,  at  a  certain  time  of  the  year, 
produce  those  of  males,  and.  at  another  time, 
the  eggs  of  workers,  an  order  which  cannot 
be  inverted ;  that  the  eggs  are  not  indiscri- 


MANAGEiMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES,         89 

minately  mixed  in  the  ovaries  of  the  queen, 
but  arranged  so  that  at  a  particular  season 
she  can  lay  only  a  certain  kind  ;  that  she  can 
lay  no  male  eggs  until  those  of  the  workers, 
occupying  the  first  place  in  the  oviducts,  are 
discharged.  I  do  not  mean  to  question  this 
statement,  as  holding  true  generally,  but  I 
think  it  made  in  terms  too  unqualified,  and 
that  there  are  palpable  and  frequent  excep- 
tions. He  has  himself  acknowledged,  else- 
where, that  a  queen  hatched  in  spring  will 
sometimes  lay  fifty  or  sixty  eggs  of  males 
during  the  course  of  the  ensuing  summer, 
and  I  have  repeatedly  witnessed  the  fact. 
Now,  this  takes  place  in  certain  circum- 
stances, and  under  certain  conditions,  name- 
ly, that  the  family  of  the  queen  so  laying 
shall  have  been  a  very  early  swarm,  that  it 
shall  abound  in  population,  and  that  the  sea- 
son shall  be  genial,  and  the  secretion  of 
honey  in  the  flowers  plentiful.  In  such  a 
favorable  juncture  of  circumstances,  it  almost 
invariably  happens  that  the  queen  lays  male 
eggs,  and  that,  as  the  natural  consequence, 
8* 


90  TREATISE    ON    THE 

royal  cells  are  built,  in  which  she  lays,  and, 
in  due  time,  she  leads  off  a  swarm.  Now, 
does  not  this  fact  seem  to  imply  that  there  is 
no  such  arbitrary  arrangement  of  the  several 
kinds  of  eggs  as  Huber  imagines,  and  if  it 
would  be  stretching  the  inference  too  far  to 
say,  that  the  queen  has  the  power  of  laying 
those  of  males  or  of  workers,  as  circum- 
stances may  require  ;  does  it  not  imply  that 
the  statement  of  Huber  may  admit  of  very 
important  and  frequent  exceptions  ? 

About  the  twentieth  day  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  laying  of  male  eggs,  the 
Bees  begin  to  lay  the  foundation  of  royal 
cells,  and  the  queen  having  resumed  laying 
female  eggs,  deposites  them,  at  intervals  of 
one  or  two  days,  in  these  cells,  from  which 
are  hatched,  in  due  time,  other  queens.  This 
regular  process  is,  howiever,  sometimes  in- 
terrupted : — if  the  queen  be  not  a  fertile  one, 
and  the  colony  is,  in  consequence,  weak  in 
population,  if  the  hive  or  domicil  itself  be 
large  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  in- 
habitants, or  if  the  temperature  of  the  season 


MANAGEMENT  OP  HONEY  BEES.   91 

has  been  such  as  to  interfere  with  the  copi- 
ous collection  of  honey  or  farina,  in  these 
circumstances  no  male  eggs  will  be  laid,  no 
i-oyal  cells  founded,  and  no  swarms  will  issue. 
But  in  favorable  circumstances,  the  laying 
of  royal  eggs  takes  place  regularly  during 
the  laying  of  those  of  males,  and  swarming 
as  the  consequence.  The  royal  cell  is  an 
inch  in  depth,  and  it  has  been  considered 
difficult  to  comprehend  how  the  body  of  the 
queen  can  reach  to  the  bottom,  so  as  to  at- 
tach the  egg  to  it ;  but,  in  fact,  the  queen 
lays  when  the  cell  is  merely  founded,  and 
not  deeper  than  that  of  a  common  Bee,  and 
it  is  not  until  the  precious  deposit  has  been 
made,  that  the  workers  lengthen  it  to  the  full 
size.  The  egg  destined  to  produce  a  queen, 
like  that  which  is  laid  in  a  drone  cell  and 
that  of  a  worker,  is  three  days  old  before  it 
is  hatched.  As  soon  as  this  takes  place,  the 
royal  larva  becomes  an  object  of  devoted  at- 
tention to  the  Bees,  who  watch  over  and  feed 
it  with  unremitting  attention  and  care.  It  is 
difficult  io  form  an  idea  of  the  anxious  care 


92  TREATISE    ON   THE 

and  attention  bestowed  by  the  Bees  on  the 
royal  larva.  The  comparison  of  the  affec- 
tion of  a  mother  for  an  only  child  can  alone 
furnish  any  thing  like  a  conception  of  it. 
They  seem  to  feel  that  their  own  fate  is  in- 
volved in  that  of  their  young  sovereign. 
They  feed  her  with  a  jelly  different  from 
that  which  is  destined  for  the  workers  and 
males ;  it  is  more  pungent,  and  moderately 
acidj  and  they  supply  it  in  such  profusion 
that  she  is  unable  to  consume  it  all ;  for, 
after  her  transformation,  some  remains  of  it 
are  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  cell.  At  the 
end  of  the  fifth  day  of  the  larva  state,  the 
royal  ceil  is  closed,  and  the  inhabitant  begins 
spinning  her  cocoon.  It  is  worthy  of  remark, 
that  this  covering  is  left  incomplete,  unlike 
those  of  the  workers  and  males,  which  en- 
close the  whole  body.  This  fact  beautifully 
demonstrates  the  admirable  art  with  which 
the  Author  of  nature  has  connected  the  va- 
rious characteristics  of  this  interesting  tribe 
of  his  creatures.  And  the  fact  now  under 
consideration  is  one  of  no  small  importance 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         93 

in  Bee  economy ;  for,  were  the  queen's  co- 
coon completely  to  envelop  her  body,  her  de- 
struction by  her  rivals  would  be  rendered  ex- 
tremely difficult,  the  texture  of  the  covering 
is  so  close,  that  the  sting  would  be  unable  to 
penetrate  it ;  or,  if  the  attempt  were  made,  it 
might  be  entangled  by  its  barbs,  in  the 
meshes  of  the  cocoon,  and  the  struggling  fe- 
male, unable  to  disengage  it,  would  become 
the  victim  of  her  own  fury.  In  spinning  the 
cocoon,  the  queen  spends  only  twenty-four 
hours,  she  remains  in  a  death-like  torpidity 
between  two  and  three  days,  is  then  meta- 
morphosed into  a  nymph,  and,  after  remain- 
ing in  that  state  four  days  and  a  half,  she 
comes  forth  a  perfect  queen  on  the  sixteenth 
day.  In  the  case  of  the  workers  and  males, 
the  transformation  is  no  sooner  completed 
than  they  are  at  liberty  to  abandon  the  con- 
finement of  the  cradle,  and  hasten, — the 
former,  at  least,  to  partake  of  the  labors  of 
the  community,  and  to  range  the  fields  and 
flower  gardens  in  the  very  plenitude  of  Bee 
enjoyment.     But  the  case  is   different  with 


94  TREATISE    ON    THE 

the  young  qaeens.  Like  other  sovereigns, 
they  pay  the  tax  of  their  high  estate,  in  hav- 
ing their  inclinations  put  under  restraint  for 
the  pubhc  good.  The  royal  insect  is  not 
permitted  to  leave  the  cell,  and,  as  generally 
happens,  to  lead  off  a  swarm,  unless  the 
weather  be  very  favorable.  Were  she  to  ob- 
tain her  liberty,  while,  at  the  sam_e  time, 
emigration  was  prevented  by  the  state  of  the 
external  atmosphere,  or  other  circumstances, 
there  would  be  a  plurality  of  queens  in  the 
hive,  and  mortal  strife  would  ensue.  The 
young  queen,  therefore,  is  detained  a  captive, 
and  the  workers,  piercing  a  hole  in  the  cover 
of  the  cell,  insert  their  probosccs,  and  supply 
her  with  food  during  her  captivity. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


ON    THE    FORMATION    OP    SWARMS. 


The  swarming  season  is  to  the  amateur 
in  Bee  economy,  a  most  interesting  period 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.         95 

in  the  life  and  operations  of  these  extraordi- 
nary insects,  and  affords,  perhaps,  fully  as 
much  gratification  as  any  other  part  of  their 
proceedings.  By  the  mere  practical  Bee- 
master,  who  looks  almost  exclusively  to  the 
return  of  profit  arising  from  their  culture, 
the  honey  harvest  will  of  course  be  regarded 
as  the  period  of  most  interest.  But  by  the 
naturalist,  the  season  of  swarming,  by  bring- 
ing into  view  some  of  the  most  striking  fea- 
tures of  their  marvellous  instincts,  and  thus 
affording  additional  scope  for  his  favorite 
studies,  will  ever  be  hailed  with  the  most  in- 
tense delight. 

I  have  already  observed,  that  the  breeding 
season  commences  about  the  end  of  January, 
or  early  in  February,  unless  the  temperature 
be  unusually  severe,  and  continues  with 
constantly  increasing  progress  and  activity 
throughout  the  summer.  The  addition  thus 
made  to  the  population  is  almost  incredible. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  year  a  hive  which, 
in  the  preceding  October,  contained  no  less 
than  12,000,  15,000  or  20,000  inhabitants, 


96  TREATISE    ON    THE 

will  be  reduced  below  as  many  hundreds  } 
and  yet  by"  the  beginning  or  middle  of  June, 
the  numbers,  provided  the  queen  be  an  ordi- 
narily fertile  one,  and  the  season  not  unfa- 
vorable, will  be  augmented  to  more  than  the 
original  amount,  exclusive  of  an  immense 
quantity  of  brood  in  progress  in  the  combs. 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  about 
midsummer^  or  even  before  it,  there  seems  a 
want  of  room  in  the  hive,  and  a  determina- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Bees  to  desert  their 
crowded  habitation,  and  to  seek  for  a  new 
one  elsewhere. 

A  crowded  population  may  not  be  the  so]e 
cause  of  this  periodical  emigration  of  the 
Bees,  but  it  seems  to  be  the  usual  course  of 
nature  that  it  should  be  the  principal  cause^ 
and  that  others  which  may  be  alleged  are 
but  subservient  to  it.  No  royal  brood  is 
reared,  unless  the  population  fill  the  hive 
almost  to  overflowing.  This  takes  place 
sooner  or  later,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
domicil,  and  hence  we  find  that,  generally 
speaking,  small  hives  swarm  sooner  than 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.        97 

large  ones.  The  heat  in  a  full  hive  is  ex- 
cessive, the  thermometer  often  rising  above 
100  degrees,  and  may  doubtless  have  its  ef- 
fect in  hastening  the  swarming.  But  the 
increased  temperature  is  the  consequence  of 
the  overgrown  population  in-  relation  to  the 
size  of  their  dwelling.  The  uneasiness  of 
the  queen  is  usually  stated  as  one  of  the 
causes  of  swarming,  arising  from  the  sight 
of  so  many  royal  cells,  each  containing,  as  a 
sure  instinct  teaches  her,  a  future  rival. 

However  this  may  hold  true  in  after 
swarms,  it  seems  at  least  doubtful  whether 
it  be  applicable  to  the  first.  In  respect  to 
after  swarms,  the  then  queen,  prompted  by 
jealousy,  is  desirous  to  destroy  her  rivals,  and 
being  prevented  by  the  Bees  from  doing  so 
she  becomes  agitated  and  restless,  and  final- 
ly forsakes  a  hive  where  she  meets  with  so 
much  to  annoy  her.  But  in  the  case  of  a 
first  swarm,  the  queen  mother  meets  with 
nothing  but  respect  and  attention  to  her 
wishes  from  every  member  of  the  communi- 
ty. She  is  their  common  mother,  and  is 
9 


98  TREATISE    ON    THE 

never  opposed  by  them,  and  might  destroy 
all  the  embryo  queens  without  any  opposi- 
tion ;  and  this  in  fact  does  sometimes  take 
place,  for  the  old  queen  destroys  the  whole 
of  the  royal  brood.  But  it  is  otherwise  in 
ordinary  circumstances,  and  while  she  is 
left  at  perfect  liberty  to  act  as  she  pleases 
with  regard  to  the  unhatched  queens,  we  are 
led  to  believe  that  she  is  induced  to  emigrate, 
not  on  account  of  the  presence  of  her  embryo 
rivals,  but  in  obedience  to  the  wise  provision 
of  nature  for  the  increase  of  the  species. 
Whatever  may  be  the  real  cause,  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  queen  and  the  workers  at  the 
approach  of  summer  evidently  show  that 
matters  are  ripening  for  some  great  internal 
movement. 

About  the  beginning  or  middle  of  May, 
the  Bees,  as  if  aware  of  the  necessity,  begin 
to  form  large  cells,  in  which  the  queen  imme- 
diately deposits  the  eggs  of  males,  and  con- 
tinues to  do  so  for  about  thirty  days  ;  at  the 
same  time  royal  cells  are  formed,  for  there 
appears  to  be  a  secret  relation  between  the 


Management  op  honey  bees.      99 

production  of  the  eggs  of  males  and  the  con- 
struction of  royal  cells,  and  about  the  twen- 
tieth day  of  her  laying  this  species  of  eggs, 
the  queen  discovering  the  royal  cells,  depo- 
sits an  egg  in  one  of  them,  and  at  intervals 
of  a  day  between  each,  in  all  the  other  cells 
of  this  description.    The  Bees  know  to  close 
them  at  the  time  when  the  larvai  are  ready 
to  be  transformed  into  nymphs,  and  as  they 
in  part  close  all  the  royal  cells  at  different 
periods,  it  is  evident  that  the  inclosed  larvse 
are  not  all  of  an  equal  age.     The  laying  of 
drone  eggs  having  terminated,  the  queen, 
previously  large    and    unwieldy,    becomes 
slender  in  her  figure  and  more  able  to  fly, 
and  begins  to  exhibit  signs  of  agitation.    She 
traverses  the  hive  impatiently,  abandoning 
the  slow  and   stately  step  which  was  her 
wont,  and  in  the  course  of  her  impetuous 
progress  over  combs,  she  communicates  her 
agitation  to  the  workers,  who  crowd  around 
her  and  evidently  share  in  her  impatience. 
A  loud  confused  noise  is  heard  throughout 
the  hive,  and  hardly  any  of  the  workers  are 


100  TREATISE    ON    THE 

observed  going  abroad  to  forage,  numbers 
are  whirling  about  in  an  unsettled  manner 
in  front  of  the  hive,  and  the  moment  is  come 
to  a  considerable  portion  of  the  family,  for 
bidding  adieu  to  their  ancient  abode.  All  at 
once  the  noise  in  the  interior  ceases,  and  the 
whole  of  the  Bees  about  the  doors  re-enter, 
while  those  returning  loaded  from  the  fields, 
instead  of  hurrying  in  as  usual,  hover  on 
the  wing,  as  if  in  eager  expectation.  In  a 
second  or  two,  some  workers  present  them- 
selves again  at  the  door,  turn  round,  re-en- 
ter, and  return  instantaneously  in  additional 
numbers,  smartly  vibrating  their  wings,  as 
if  sounding  the  march,  and  at  this  signal  the 
whole  swarm  rushes  to  the  entrance  in  an 
overwhelming  crowd,  streaming  forth  with 
astonishing  rapidity,  and  filling  the  air  in  an 
instant,  like  a  dark  cloud  overhanging  their 
late  habitation.  There  they  hover  for  a  mo- 
ment, reeling  backwards  and  forwards,  while 
some  of  the  body  search  in  the  vicinity  for  a 
tree  or  bush  which  may  serve  as  a  rallying 
point  for  the  emigrants.    To  this  they  repair 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.       101 

by  degrees,  and  provided  their  queen  has 
aUghted  there,  all,  or  at  least  the  greater 
part,  crowd  around,  and  form  a  dense  group, 
sometimes  round  like  a  ball,  sometimes  clus- 
tered like  a  bunch  of  grapes,  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  resting-place  they  have 
fixed  on. 

The  queen  is  not  always  foremost ;  it  is 
frequently,  or  rather  generally,  not  till  after 
the  departure  of  a  considerable  number  of 
workers  that  she  makes  her  appearance,  and 
when  she  does  come,  it  is  with  a  timid  irre- 
solute air,  as  if  she  were  borne  along  almost 
against  her  will,  by  the  torrent  that  streams 
out  of  the  hive,  for  she  often  turns  on  the 
threshold,  as  if  about  to  re-enter,  and  in  fact 
frequently  does  so,  but  cannot  long  resist  the 
opposing  crowd.  The  first  swarm  is  inva- 
riably led  off  by  the  old  queen.  This  I  have 
ascertained  by  actual  observation.  The 
queen  leading  ofi"  a  first  swarm  in  one  year, 
has  been  marked,  and  has  been  found  at  the 
head  of  a  first  swarm  in  the  following  year. 
I  saw  a  swarm  that  left  the  hive  with  the 
9* 


102  TREATISE    ON    THE 

old  queen,  and  left  the  young  queen  in  the 
cell,  which  came  out  the  next  day  and  took 
possession  of  the  old  hive.  This  experiment 
has  been  so  often  repeated,  and  with  results 
so  uniform,  as  to  put  the  fact  beyond  all 
doubt.  Besides,  in  examining  those  hives 
in  which  first  swarms  have  been  placed, 
eggs  will  be  found  in  the  cells  on  the  second 
day,  which  could  not  have  been  the  case 
had  the  leader  been  a  virgin  queen.  The 
reason  for  the  departure  of  the  old  queen 
with  the  first  swarm,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fact,  that  a  plurality  of  queens  cannot  exist 
in  a  hive.  Were  no  swarm  to  depart,  there- 
fore, until  a  young  queen  could  put  herself 
at  the  head  of  it,  this  plurality  must  exist  for 
a  time,  and  the  danger  arises  of  a  combat  be- 
tween the  two  sovereigns,  and  the  death  of 
one,  at  least,  and  probably  of  the  younger 
and  weaker,  would  be  the  consequence.  By 
this  means  swarming  would  be  prevented  al- 
together. A  swarm,  especially  a  first  one, 
never  departs  but  in  fine  weather,  and  at  the 
warmest  time  of  the  day.    The  passing  of  a 


MANAGEMENT    OF   HONEY    BEES.      103 

cloud  over  the  face  of  the  sun,  causing  a 
sudden  diminution  of  the  light,  is  sufficient 
to  stop  the  emigration  for  a  time,  although 
all  is  in  perfect  readiness. 

The  same  effect  is  produced  if,  at  the  time 
of  rushing  out,  there  is  a  sudden  changxj  of 
weather, — a  shower  of  rain  however  slight, 
or  a  gust  of  wind,  will  restore  quiet  instan- 
taneously. No  sooner  does  the  wind  lull, 
and  the  sun  shine  out,  though  only  for  a 
second  or  two,  than  all  the  symptoms  of  rest- 
lessness and  agitation  are  renewed,  and  the 
impatient  emigrants  rush  out  in  myriads.  If 
suffered  to  remain  any  considerable  time  on 
the  spot  where  they  have  alighted  in  swarm- 
ing, the  bees  are  apt  to  rise  again  and  take  a 
new  flight.  But  their  flight  now  has  a  dif- 
ferent aspect  from  what  it  had  on  first  leav- 
ing the  hive.  They  do  not  now  hover  round 
the  apiary,  wheeling  about  in  many  circles, 
and  in  a  kind  of  regular  confusion,  but  dart 
away  in  a  condensed  body,  and  with  a  rapid 
wing,  with  a  shrill  whizzing  sound,  and  al- 
most always  in  a  straight  line,  as  if  they  had 


104  TREATISE    ON    THE 

some  particular  selected  spot  in  view.  It  is 
supposed,  indeed,  and  on  feasible  grounds, 
that  in  every  case  the  Bees,  previous  to 
swarming,  have  fixed  on  a  place  of  abode, 
that  they  alight  in  the  first  instance  on  a 
bush  or  tree,  merely  as  a  general  rendezvous 
before  proceeding  to  their  final  destination, 
and  that  some  days  previously  they  send  out 
some  of  their  number  in  the  character  of 
scouts  to  look  out  for  a  suitable  habitation. 
Whether  this  be  the  fact  or  not,  is  a  question 
which  has  given  rise  to  considerable  discus- 
sion, and  a  host  of  apiarians  have  taken  op- 
posite sides  on  the  subject.  As  far  as  my 
experience  goes,  it  is  in  favor  of  the  scout 
system.  At  the  approach  of  the  swarming 
season,  the  Bee-owner  should  have  empty 
hives  in  readiness  and  in  their  places  in  the 
apiary,  for  the  reception  of  swarms.  When 
a  swarm  has  come  forth  and  has  alighted, 
cut  off  the  limb ;  if  convenient,  have  your 
hive  in  readiness  on  the  table,  with  the 
screen  bottom  out,  and  lay  the  limb  on  !he 
table,  and  start  the  Bees  with  a  quill ;  in  the 


MANAGEMENT    OP    HONEY    BEES.      105 

space  of  five  minutes  the  Bees  will  be  all  in 
the  hive,  then  set  your  hive  in  the  apiary 
where  it  belongs. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SECOND    SWARMS. 

After  the  departure  of  the  first  swarm, 
with  the  old  queen  at  its  head,  the  commu- 
nity is  for  a  time,  generally,  without  a  queen. 
There  is  brood  in  the  royal  cells,  but  none 
come  to  maturity,  and  it  is  not  till  the  first  to 
the  fifth,  and  sometimes  to  the  seventh  day, 
in  ordinary  cases,  that  the  senior  of  the  young 
princesses  is  hatched,  and  takes  her  place  as 
queen  regnant.  Her  first  step  is  to  hasten  to 
the  other  royal  cells,  and  endeavor  to  destroy 
her  rivals.  In  these  attempts,  with  which 
she  is  incessantly  occupied  for  several  days, 
she  is  strongly  opposed  by  the  workers,  to 
whom,  so  long  as  she  remains  a  virgin,  she 


106  TREATISE    ON    THE 

is  an  object  of  indifference.  At  every  repulse 
by  the  workers,  she  utters  the  shrill  mono- 
tonous sound  which  is  called  piping,  and 
which  is  heard  for  two  or  three  days  previous 
to  the  departure  of  a  second  swarm,  while  the 
younger  queens  in  confinement  respond, 
sometimes  two  or  three  of  them  at  the  same 
time,  in  a  voice  sounding  hoarse  out  of  their 
prison.  Irritated  by  such  opposition,  and  an- 
noyed at  the  sight  of  so  many  royal  cells,  in 
every  quarter,  the  young  queen  becomes 
extremely  agitated,  and  at  last  rushes,  to- 
gether with  the  Bees  to  whom  she  has  im- 
parted her  agitation,  through  the  outlets  of 
the  hive,  and  thus  form  a  second  swarm. 

Circumstances  sometimes  occur  to  prevent 
the  departure  of  a  second  swarm.  If  the 
young  queen,  as  soon  as  hatched,  set  out  in 
search  of  the  males,  and  is  impregnated,  no 
farther  emigration  takes  place  ;  because,  be- 
ing now  to  become  a  mother,  the  character 
to  which  alone  the  Bees  render  their  hom- 
age, she  enters  into  the  full  possession  of  her 
rights,  and  is  allowed  to  attack  and  destroy 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.       107 

all  the  unhatched  royal  brood.  And  farther 
swarming  is  equally  at  an  end,  when,  after 
the  departure  of  the  first  colony,  the  remain- 
ing population  is  too  small  to  keep  up  a  vi- 
gilant guard  over  the  royal  cells.  In  that 
case,  as  if  aware  of  the  impossibility  of  a  se- 
cond emigration,  the  Bees  abandon  the  watch, 
and  the  young  queens  leaving  their  cells,  en- 
gage in  mutual  combat  till  all  are  destroyed 
except  one,  who  reigns  undisputed  sovereign. 
But  in  ordinary  circumstances,  the  agitation 
of  the  queen,  abundance  of  brood,  a  favorable 
season,  and  perhaps  other  causes  unknown 
to  us,  all  lead  to  farther  emigration,  and  in  a 
populous  hive  this  may  take  place  three,  and 
even  four  times.  The  interval  between  the 
first  and  second  swarm  is  from  eight  to  twelve 
days,  it  is  of  a  shorter  duration  between  the 
second  and  third,  and  still  less  between  the 
third  and  fourth  ;  in  fact,  when  a  fourth 
does  take  place  it  is  almost  always  on  the  day 
following  the  departure  of  the  third.  It  may 
appear  surprising  that  a  hive  can  swarm  so 
often,  without  being  much  weakened.     The 


108  TREATISE    ON    THE 

first  swarm  is  frequently  so  large  that  the 
hive  seems  altogether  deserted  ;  yet,  in  eight 
or  ten  days  afterwards,  the  population  is  in 
such  abundance  as  to  be  able  to  send  forth 
another   colony.     But   we  must  remember 
that  swarms  depart  only  during  the  warm- 
est part  of  the  day,  when  a  full  third  of  the 
workers   are  busily  engaged  in  the  fields, 
these,  returning  home,  resume  their  labors, 
and  carry  on  the  necessary  operations  of  the 
hive.     Besides,  the  queen  has  left  an  im- 
mense quantity  of  brood  of  all  ages,  which 
is  soon  hatched,  and  which  renders  the  po- 
pulation as  great  after  swarming  as  before. 
Thus  the  hive  is  perfectly  capable  of  afford- 
ing a  second  colony  without  being  too  much 
impoverished.    The  third  and  fourth  swarms 
weaken  it  more  sensibly,  but  the  inhabitants 
always  remain  in  sufficient  numbers  to  pre- 
serve the  course  of  their  labors  uninterrupt- 
ed, and  the  losses  are  soon  replaced  by  the 
great  fecundity  of  the  queen.     When  the 
swarming  is  over  in  any  particular  hive,  the 
new  queen,  on  the  departure  or  death  of  the 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY  BEES.       109 

rest,  and  the  restoration  of  the  ordinary 
tranquiUity  of  the  community,  goes  abroad 
on  the  following  day,  generally  the  fifth  of 
her  existence,  to  meet  the  males,  and  is  im- 
pregnated. Forty-six  hours  afterwards,  she 
commences  laying  the  eggs  of  workers,  and 
continues  to  do  so  for  the  eleven  succeeding 

o 

months.  This  does  not,  however,  hold  strict- 
ly true  in  every  case,  for  it  sometimes  hap- 
pens, if  the  season  be  favorable,  that  the 
swarm  led  off  by  the  old  queen,  produces,  in 
about  a  month  afterwards,  a  new  colony, 
which  is  also  by  the  same  female.  Before 
leaving  the  old  hive,  she  had  terminated  the 
great  laying  of  drone  eggs,  and  thus  became 
able  to  fly,  from  her  greater  lightness,  and  to 
set  out  to  found  a  new  colony.  In  this  she 
recommences  the  laying  of  eggs  of  workers, 
and  continues  to  do  so  for  ten  or  twelve  days, 
after  which  she  deposits  a  few  drone  eggs  in 
cells  which  the  Bees,  as  if  aware  that  she 
would  require  them,  have  already  prepared 
for  their  reception.  These  male  eggs,  though 
few,  are  enough  to  encourage  the  Bees  to 
10 


110  TREATISE    ON    THE 

construct  royal  cells ;  and  if,  in  these  cir- 
cumstances, the  weather  be  favorable,  a 
swarm  may  be  formed,  and  the  same  queen 
depart  at  its  head.  Nor  is  this  variation  in 
the  swarming  operations  restricted  to  the 
instance  of  the  old  queen,  I  have  known  two 
or  three  instances  in  which  a  young  queen, 
that  is  a  queen  of  the  current  year,  after  lead- 
ing off  as  in  ordinary  circumstances,  has  also 
led  off  an  after  swarm  from  her  new  habi- 
tation. This  fact,  which  it  must  be  ac- 
knowledged occurs  very  seldom,  is  at  vari- 
ance with  the  doctrine  of  Huber,  that  the 
young  queen  lays  the  eggs  of  workers  only 
for  eleven  months  successively.  He  admits, 
though  not  very  explicitly,  that  a  queen 
hatched  in  spring  may  lay  fifty  or  sixty  drone 
eggs  during  the  course  of  the  ensuing  sum- 
mer ;  but  he  refers  to  the  swarm  led  forth  by 
the  old  queen,  exclusively,  when  he  speaks 
of  its  producing  a  new  colony  in  the  same 
season,  in  the  course  of  a  month  after  its  first 
departure.  With  respect  to  the  eleven 
months,  it   certainly  consists  with  my  own 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.       Ill 

ex()erience,  the  time  occupied  by  the  queen 
in  laying  the  eg-^s  of  workers,  before  she  be- 
gins those  of  drones,  and,  of  course,  those 
that  shall  produce  queens  and  their  accom- 
panying swarms,  varies  according  to  the 
temperature,  and  especially  to  the  abundance 
of  food.  A  swarm,  for  example,  that  came 
off  at  the  end  of  June,  sometimes  throws  off 
a  swarm  about  the  middle  of  the  following 
May,  which  is  little  more  than  ten  months  of 
an  interval,  and  on  the  other  hand,  it  some- 
times happens  that  a  hive  which  has  swarm- 
ed at  the  middle  of  May,  does  not  throw  off 
another  till  the  end  of  June,  in  the  following 
year,  which  is  above  thirteen  months. 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

ON    ARTIFICIAL    SWARMS. 

Artificial  sv/arming  is   not  generally 
practised  in  this  country,  owing  probably  to 


112  TREATISE    ON   THE 

the  want  of  sufficient  practical  skill,  in  most 
of  those  who  apply  themselves  to  Bee  hus- 
bandry. In  many  cases,  however,  it  might 
be  had  recourse  to  with  great  advantage, 
and  in  some  it  is  indispensable,  if  it  is  desired 
to  reap  the  full  benefit  of  the  stock.  It  saves 
the  watching  necessary  in  the  case  of  natu- 
ral swarms,  and  if  conducted  on  right  prin- 
ciples, renders  the  artificial  colony  quite  in- 
dependent of  the  casualties  to  which  natural 
swarms  are  liable.  Moreover,  it  secures  the 
multiplication  of  swarms  in  cases  where,  if 
left  to  the  natural  process,  there  would  be 
none.  Should  a  continued  tract  of  bad  wea- 
ther take  place  about  the  usual  period  of 
swarming,  the  old  queen  would  have  time 
and  apportunity  to  destroy  all  the  royal  pro- 
geny, for  the  Bees  never  oppose  the  queen 
mother  in  such  cases,  and  thereby  entirely 
frustrate  the  hope  of  multiplication  by  natural 
swarms.  To  avoid  this  evil  we  must  have 
recourse  to  artificial  swarming.  The  gene- 
ral period  proper  for  the  operation  is  about 
eight  or  ten  days  previous  to  the  time  when 


i 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      113 

natural  swarms  might  be  looked  for.  At 
that  time  it  is  likely  royal  brood  will  be 
found  in  the  combs,  or  at  all  events,  abundance 
of  eggs  and  larvas  of  workers,  from  which  to 
rear  an  artificial  queen,  and  the  males  are 
also  at  this  time  numerous,  a  state  of  things 
indispensable  to  the  success  of  artificial 
swarming.  The  mode  of  operation  is  vari- 
ous. With  common  hives  the  process  is 
somewhat  difiicult,  and  not  always  success- 
ful. The  following  experiments,  however, 
will  show  that  it  is  not  impracticable.  From 
the  first  to  the  third  week  in  June,  my  hives 
had  thrown  their  top  or  prime  swarms  ;  but 
instead  of  sending  ofi"  their  seconds,  or  casts, 
ten  or  twelve  days  thereafter,  as  is  generally 
the  case,  six  of  them  had  not  swarmed  nearly 
three  weeks  beyond  that  period.  This  was, 
in  all  likelihood,  owing  to  an  unfavorable 
change  of  weather,  which,  by  delaying 
the  swarming,  had  furnished  the  reigning 
queen  with  an  opportunity  of  putting  to 
death  her  intended  successors.  In  this  state 
of  things,  from  the  crowded  condition  of  the 
10* 


114  TREATISE    ON    THE 

hives,  a  mass  of  Bees,  as  large  as  a  man's 
head,  hung  from  the  alighting  board  of  each, 
and  were  clustered  on  the  outside  of  the 
hives,  a  grievous  sight  to  the  apiarian,  as 
these  outliers  are  quite  idle.  I  resolved, 
therefore,  to  try  artificial  swarming  with 
these  hives.  Availing  myself  of  the  discove- 
ries of  Schirach  and  Huber,  I  cut  out  of  an- 
other hive  a  piece  of  comb,  containing  eggs 
and  larvae  of  the  proper  age,  and  fixed  it  in  one 
of  my  principle  hives ;  I  then  removed  one 
of  the  hives  which  had  an  outljang,  or  ra- 
ther outhanging  mass  attached  to  its  alight- 
ing board,  instantly  clapping  down  in  its 
place  on  the  same  board  the  already  prepared 
hive,  and,  with  the  help  of  a  hot  sun,  forcing 
the  others  to  enter.  They  made  a  tremen- 
dous noise,  and  seemed  much  disconcerted 
at  finding,  instead  of  the  rich  combs  they  had 
hitherto  been  familiar  with,  nothing  but  an 
empty  hive.  This  agitation  was  kept  up  all 
the  day  by  the  continued  arrival  of  those 
Bees  which  had  been  abroad  when  the  sub- 
stitution took  place,  and  who  added  greatly 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      115 

to  the  population.  At  noon  the  next  day  I 
inspected  the  new  establishment,  and  found, 
to  my  great  satisfaction,  that  the  experiment 
had  completely  succeeded.  The  founda- 
tions of  six  royal  cells  had  been  laid  in  the 
small  piece  of  brood  comb  I  had  oriven  them. 
In  due  time  the  queen  was  hatched,  the  hive 
prospered,  and  at  the  end  of  the  season,  the 
hive  was  as  good  as  any  of  my  natural 
swarms.  I  may  observe,  that  though  it  was 
one  of  my  principle  hives  I  used  on  this  oc- 
casion, it  would  have  succeeded  equally  as 
well  with  any  other  hive ;  the  construction 
of  the  hive  had  no  influence  on  the  experi- 
ment farther  than  that  it  rendered  it  easier 
to  fasten  the  piece  of  brood  comb  in. 

Another  experiment  I  tried  on  forming  ar- 
tificial swarms,  was  to  drive  about  two  thirds 
of  the  Bees  out  of  their  old  hive  with  their 
queen,  and  put  them  into  an  empty  hive.  I 
immediately  replaced  the  old  hive  on  its 
former  station,  and  removed  the  new  one 
containing  the  queen,  to  a  little  distance. 
As  the  former  had  plenty  of  eggs  and  young 


116  TREATISE    ON    THE 

broodj  they  were  at  no  loss  to  procure  an- 
other queen,  while  the  other,  having  a  queen, 
proceeded  to  work  in  all  respects  as  a  natu- 
ral swarm.  With  such  a  hive  as  my  own, 
or  any  other  square-shaped  hive,  that  opens 
in  two  parts,  vertically,  the  operation  is  very 
simple,  more  satisfactory,  and  less  dependant 
on  contingencies.  Let  a  hive  be  prepared 
of  precisely  the  same  dimensions  as  the  one 
to  be  operated  on,  and  of  the  same  construc- 
tion, namely,  opening  vertically  in  two 
halves.  Early  in  the  morning,  or  in  the 
evening,  when  the  Bees  are  all  at  home,  let 
the  hive  be  gently  separated.  The  Bees,  al- 
ways most  irritable  when  idle,  will  dart  out 
in  no  placid  humor,  and  must  therefore  be 
kept  from  annoying  the  operator,  by  the  use 
of  a  gauze  veil  tied  around  the  hat,  and  but- 
toned under  the  coat,  with  a  pair  of  woolen 
gloves  on  the  hands.  Apply  to  each  full  half 
an  empty  one,  carefully  fastening  them  to- 
gether by  hooks  and  eyes  previously  ar- 
ranged. We  have  thus  two  hives,  each  half 
full  of  Bees,  brood,  and  honey.     One  of  them 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      117 

will  possess  the  queen,  and  the  other  will 
have  royal  brood,  or  at  all  events,  eggs  and 
larvae  of  all  ages  wherewith  to  originate  a 
queen.  As  soon  as  they  have  recovered  from 
the  panic  caused  by  the  operation,  and  have 
all  retired  into  the  interior,  let  both  doors  be 
closed,  that  there  may  be  no  communication 
between  the  two  divided  communities.  Two 
or  three  hours  afterwards,  listen  attentively 
to  each,  and  it  will  be  readily  ascertained, 
from  the  quiet  state  of  the  one,  and  the  loud, 
disorderly  buzzing  of  the  other,  that  the  queen 
is  present  with  the  former,  and  that  the  other 
is  distressed  at  the  discovery  of  their  loss. 
Carry  off  the  one  with  the  queen,  leaving  the 
other  in  the  original  station.  If  this  last  had 
no  royal  brood  at  the  time  of  the  separation, 
it  will,  within  twenty-four  hours,  have  set 
about  forming  an  artificial  queen,  and  the 
operation  is  finished. 


118  TREATISE    ON    THE 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ON    THE    CONVERSION    OF    THE    LARVA    OF 
A    WORKER    INTO    A    Q,UEEN. 

Bees,  when  deprived  of  their  queen,  are 
endowed  by  nature  with  the  power  of  reme- 
dying this  calamity,  by  conv'erting  a  worker 
larva  into  a  royal  one,  and  by  means  of  a 
cell  of  a  larger  size,  and  of  a  peculiar  kind 
of  nourishment,  of  producing  a  female  that 
shall  be,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  a  queen 
or  mother  Bee,  capable  of  perpetuating  her 
kind.  The  discovery  of  this  singular  fact 
is  generally  attributed  to  Schirach,  and,  pro- 
bably, with  justice  ;  for,  although  the  prac- 
tice of  making  artificial  swarms,  which  can 
only  be  effected  by  causing  the  production 
of  artificial  queens,  the  manner  in  which 
Schirach  made  the  discovery  is  interesting. 

Having  used  a  great  quantity  of  smoke  in 
some  of  his  operations,  the  Bees  were  so  an- 
noyed by  it  that  numbers  of  them  left  the 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      119 

hive,  and  among  them  the  queen.  Know- 
ing the  consequences  of  her  loss,  he  souofht 
for  her  diUgently,  but  in  vain.  Next  morn- 
ing he  observed  a  cluster  of  Bees  about  the 
size  of  an  apple  on  the  prop  of  the  hive 
whose  queen  had  lied  ;  here  he  discovered  a 
queen,  and,  having  carried  her  to  the  en- 
trance of  the  hive  which  had  lost  its  own, 
she  was  immediately  surrounded  by  the  Bees, 
and  treated  in  such  a  manner  as  plainly  an- 
nounced that  she  was  their  queen.  "  What 
was  my  astonishment,"  he  proceeds,  '•  when 
wishing  to  introduce  her  among  the  combs, 
I  saw  the  Bees  remaining  had  already  plan- 
ned and  almost  finished  three  royal  cells. 
Struck  with  the  activity  and  sagacity  of  these 
creatures  to  save  themselves  from  impendino^ 
destruction,  I  was  filled  with  admiration,  and 
adored  the  infinite  goodness  of  God  in  the 
care  taken  to  perpetuate  his  works.  Having 
carried  away  two  of  the  cells,  to  ascertain 
whether  the  Bees  would  continue  their  ope- 
rations, I  beheld,  next  morning,  with  the  ut- 
m.ost  surprise,  that  they  had  removed  all  the 


120  TREATISE    ON    THE 

food  from  around  the  third  worm  left  behind, 
on  purpose  to  prevent  its  conversion  to  a 
queen."  The  fact  of  this  power  possessed 
by  the  Bees  is  so  extraordinary,  that  it  was  at 
first  called  in  question  by  several  eminent 
naturalists,  among  others,  by  the  justly  cele- 
brated Bonnett.  This  naturalist  was  at  last, 
however,  convinced  of  its  reality  by  experi- 
ments instituted  by  himself,  and  satisfied  that 
all  the  working  Bees  are  females  of  imper- 
fect organization,  expressed  his  opinion  that 
the  evolution  of  the  germ  is  affected  by  the 
action  of  the  prolific  matter  as  a  stimulant, 
as  a  substantial  nutriment  suitable  for  that 
purpose,  and  he  supposes  that  a  certain  qua- 
lity of  food,  administered  more  copiously 
than  in  ordinary  cases,  may  unfold  those  or- 
gans in  the  larvae  of  Bees  that  never  would 
have  appeared  without  it. 

He  conceived  also  that  a  habitation  like  a 
queen  cell,  considerably  more  spacious  and 
differently  placed,  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
the  complete  development  of  organs  which 
the  new  nutriment  may  cause  to  grow  in  all 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.     121 

directions.  It  furnishes  a  surprising  evidence 

of  the  slow  degrees  by  which  scientific  facts 
make  their  way,  if  not  essential  to  general 
utility,  when  we  consider  that  to  this  day, 
the  knowledge  of  this  singularity  in  the  na- 
tural history  of  this  insect,  is  confined  almost 
exclusively  to  apiarians,  and  even  rejected 
by  some  of  them.  It  has  however  been  con- 
firmed by  so  many  experiments  instituted  by 
many  difierent  individuals,  that  no  unpreju- 
diced mind  can  withhold  its  assent  from  its 
truth.  In  the  case  of  the  Bee,  the  egg  of  a 
worker  placed  in  a  royal  cell,  only  produces 
an  insect  which  has  its  powers  more  fully 
developed  in  proportion  to  the  ampler  space 
which  it  occupies,  but  it  acquires  no  new 
powers. 

The  germ  of  the  ovary  existed  originally 
in  the  common  Bee  as  well  as  in  the  mother 
Bee,  but  the  confined  limits  of  its  cell,  and 
the  want  of  the  peculiar  food  provided  for 
the  royal  race  prevented  its  development. 
The  proceedings  of  the  Bees  in  order  to  sup- 
ply the  loss  of  their  queen,  are  extremely  in- 
11 


122  TREATISE    ON    THE 

teresting.  In  about  twenty-four  hours  they 
are  aware  of  the  misfortune  that  has  befallen 
them,  and  without  loss  of  time  they  set  about 
repairing  the  disaster.  They  fix  upon  a 
worm  not  more  than  three  days  old,  demo- 
lish the  three  contiguous  cells,  and  raise 
around  it  a  regular  cylindrical  inclosure. 
At  the  end  of  three  days  the  workers  change 
the  direction  of  the  cell,  which  has  hitherto 
been  horizontal,  into  a  perpendicular  posi-- 
tion,  working  downwards  about  one  inch  in 
length  and  half  an  inch  in  thickness.  In  addi- 
tion to  this  conclusive  experiment,  I  shall  take 
the  liberty  of  detailing  some  of  my  own  on 
the  same  subject,  which  were  made  some 
years  ago,  and  which  I  have  repeated  almost 
every  year  since  with  the  same  success.  I 
give  experiments,  not  from  any  idea  that 
those  of  Shirach  and  Huber  require  confir- 
mation, or  that  my  own  are  of  importance 
enough  to  supply  any  such  supposed  defi- 
ciency, but  on  the  obvious  principle  that  the 
more  numerous .  the  experiments,  and  the 
greater  the  diversity  of  experimenters,  the 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      123 

more  irrefraofable  is  the  allesfed  fact  estab- 
lished,  if  the  result  be  uniformly  the  same. 

Of  the  experiment  1  am  now  about  to  de- 
tail, the  sole  object  was  to  prove  the  existence 
of  the  power  inherent  in  the  Bees  of  rearing 
an  artificial  queen,  when  deprived  by  any 
accident  of  their  original  mother.  This,  in- 
deed, has  been  proved,  but  only  incidentally; 
and  I  was  anxious,  by  an  experiment  insti- 
tuted exclusiv^ely  for  that  object,  and  con- 
ducted with  minute  and  scrupulous  accu- 
racy, to  put  the  matter  out  of  all  doubt  in 
my  own  mind  at  least.  In  June  my  Obser- 
vatory hive  was  full  of  Bees,  brood  and 
honey,  the  queen  was  very  fertile  and  laying 
at  the  rate  of  about  100  eggs  a  day.  I  opened 
the  hive  and  carried  her  oiF.  For  about  five 
hours  the  Bees  continued  their  labors  as  ear- 
nestly and  contentedly  as  if  she  were  still 
with  them.  At  the  end  of  that  time  they  be- 
came aware  of  their  loss,  and  all  was  instant- 
ly aofitation  and  tumult.  The  Bees  hurried 
backwards  and  forvv^ards  over  the  comb  with 
a  loud  noise,  rushed  in  crowds  to  the  door 


124  TREATISE    ON    THE 

and  out  of  the  hive,  as  if  going  to  swarm, 
and  in  short,  exhibited  all  the  symptoms  of 
bereavement  and  despair.  Night  coming  on 
they  all  went  into  their  hive,  and  peace  and 
tranquillity  appeared  to  exist  amongst  them. 
Next  morning,  I  observed  they  had  laid  the 
foundations  of  seven  royal  cells,  having  de- 
molished the  three  cells  contiguous  to  each 
of  those  containing  eggs  or  worms,  which 
suited  their  purpose,  and  by  the  next  morn- 
ing, there  were  visible  the  rudiments  of  five 
more  royal  cells,  all  in  quarters  of  the  comb 
where  before  were  nothing  but  eggs  and 
common  larvae  of  one  or  two  days  old.  The 
Bees  paid  all  attention  to  these  royal  cells, 
and  they  advanced  very  rapidly.  On  the 
seventh  day  the  seven  first  were  sealed,  and 
on  the  following  day  the  other  five  were 
sealed.  On  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth 
day  from  the  removal  of  the  old  queen,  I  had 
seven  emerged  from  their  cells,  strong  and 
active,  and  exactly  resembling  those  pro- 
duced in  the  natural  way ;  and  on  the  next 
morning  I  had  the  other  five  come  forth. 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      125 

Strong  and  active.  I  had  to  watch  the  hive 
with  all  diUgence,  and  open  the  door  and 
take  out  the  queens  as  fast  as  they  emerged 
from  their  cells,  and  kept  them  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  artificial  swarms — some  of 
them  escaped  my  notice,  and  I  found  them 
lifeless  on  the  ground  in  front  of  the  hive. 

I  observed  two  circumstances  respecting 
these  artificial  queens,  which  may  be  noticed 
here,  though  rather,  perhaps,  out  of  place, 
one  of  them  agreeing  perfectly  with  the  ex- 
perience of  Huber,  while  the  other  is  at  va- 
riance with  it.  While  the  surviving  queen 
remained  a  virgin,  not  the  slightest  mark  of 
attention  or  respect  was  shown  to  her  by  the 
Bees.  No  one  gave  her  food, — she  was  ob- 
liged as  often  cis  she  required  it,  to  help  her- 
self, and  in  crossing  to  the  honey  cells  for 
that  purpose,  she  had  to  scramble,  often  with 
great  difiiculty,  over  crowds,  not  an  indivi- 
dual would  get  out  of  her  way,  or  seemed  to 
care  whether  she  fed  or  starved.  But  no 
sooner  did  she  become  a  mother  than  the 
scene  was  changed  indeed,  and  all  vied  in 
11* 


126  TREATISE    ON   THE 

testifying  their  affection  and  regard ;  one 
after  another  presented  her  proboscis  with 
food,  and  at  every  step  of  her  progress,  a 
circle  was  formed  around  her  by  her  admi- 
ring subjects.  The  other  circumstance  alhi- 
ded  to,  which  varies  from  the  experience  of 
Huber,  respects  the  vigilance  of  the  workers 
in  such  cases,  and  the  sound  emitted  by  the 
queens.  He  says,  that  the  workers  form  no 
guard  around  the  cells  of  artificial  queens, 
and  that  these  last  are  perfectly  mute  \  and 
the  naturalist  makes  some  remarks  by  way 
of  accounting  for  it.  The  above  experiment 
is  completely  in  contradiction  to  this.  The 
cell  of  the  younger  queens  was  most  strictly 
guarded,  and  both  emitted  the  sounds  allu- 
ded to,  perhaps  once  every  minute,  for  several 
hours  together.  To  these  experiments  I  have 
only  to  add  farther,  that,  as  already  stated,  I 
have  very  frequently  repeated  the  same  ope- 
ration, and  always  with  success ;  and  that 
in  the  summer  of  1841,  I  removed  the  reign- 
ing queen  of  the  same  Observatory  hive  three 
times  successively,  supposing  each  queen  io 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      127 

remain  just  long  enough  to  lay  a  score  or 
two  of  eggs  before  her  removal,  and  each 
time  the  workers  laid  the  foundations  of  five 
or  six  royal  cells,  and  brought  them  to  ma- 
turity. Within  the  space  of  a  few  weeks  I 
saw  the  foundations  laid  of  eighteen  or  twen- 
ty royal  cells,  and  at  the  last  removal  there 
were  visible  several  queens  at  the  same  time, 
and  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  witness  a  re  • 
gular  combat  between  two  of  them. 

From  all  these  experiments,  it  seems  now 
a  fact  established  beyond  all  doubt,  that  Bees 
can  at  all  times  procure  a  queen  for  them- 
selves, provided  they  have  a  comb  contain- 
ing larvae  not  more  than  three  days  old,  in 
the  com^mon  cells,  and  nothing  but  certain 
important  conditions,  such  as  a  particular 
kind  of  food  and  more  spacious  lodgment, 
are  requisite  for  the  conversion  of  common 
larvae  into  queens.  At  the  same  time,  it 
ought  to  be  candidly  confessed,  that  while 
the  fact  itself  seems  now  completely  estab- 
lished, there  are  circumstances  connected 
with  it  which  I  am  unable  satisfactorily  to 


128  TREATISE    ON    THE 

explain.  That  a  more  abundant  supply  of 
food,  and  of  a  more  stimulant  quality,  admin- 
istered in  a  cell  of  larger  dimensions,  should 
give  fall  development  to  organs  which,  by 
the  ordinary  treatment,  would  have  remained 
but  partially  expanded,  I  can  readily  compre- 
hend, but  that  such  extra  supplies  of  food 
and  space  should  effect  an  absolute  change 
in  the  anatomical  structure  and  instinctive 
propensities,  should  produce  a  more  slender 
proboscis,  deprive  the  transformed  insect  of 
the  downy  brushes  at  the  joints  of  her  limbs, 
and  of  the  basket-shaped  cavities  in  the  pos- 
terior pair,  for  retaining  the  pellets  of  farina ; 
and,  above  all,  should  eifect  so  great  an  al- 
teration in  her  instincts,  rendering  them  in 
numerous  particulars  entirely  different  from 
those  of  the  worker  class,  for  which  she  was 
originally  destined — these  are  circumstances 
which,  notwithstanding  all  my  researches, 
are  still  involved  in  mysterious  obscurity, 
and  furnishes  ample  scope  for  future  inves- 
tigation. 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.       129 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

ON  THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  HIVE. 

Hives  are  found  of  almost  all  shapes  and 
sizes,  and  of  various  materials,  circumstances 
influenced  sometimes  by  convenience,  but 
oftener  by  the  taste  and  fancy  of  the  owners. 
In  France,  particularly  where  the  culture  of 
the  Bee  has  been  much  attended  to,  the  va- 
riety of  hives  is  very  great ;  but  with  few 
exceptions,  they  appear  to  be  remarkably  de- 
ficient in  simplicity.  This  is  an  important 
point  to  be  attended  to,  both  as  regards  the 
accommodation  of  the  Bees,  and  the  conve- 
nience of  the  Bee  master.  As  far  as  respects 
the  mere  collecting  and  storing  of  the  honey, 
the  kind  of  hive  is  but  of  secondary  impor- 
tance. If  the  season  be  propitious,  and  the 
country  rich  in  flowers,  the  industrious  col- 
lectors will  cheerfully  deposit  the  fruit  of 
their  labors  in  any  moderate  sized  receptacle 
that  appears  to  aflbrd  security  and  shelter. 


130  TREATISE    ON    THE 

It  is  the  interest  of  the  owner,  however,  to 
ascertain  what  material  and  construction  will 
answer  best  for  sustaining  an  equable  tem- 
perature during  the  heats  of  summer,  and 
most  effectually  secure  the  comfort  of  the  in- 
mates duiinof  the  severity  of  winter.  And 
besides  these  indispensable  requisites,  there 
are  other  considerations  to  be  attended  to  in 
the  structure  of  hives,  which,  to  the  natural- 
ist and  amateur  are  matters  of  no  little  mo- 
ment. It  would  far  exceed  my  prescribed 
limits  to  attempt  a  description  of  the  multi- 
tude of  hives  that  the  ingenuity  of  one  class 
of  Bee  masters  has  invented,  and  another  has 
improved  upon  ; — I  shall  therefore  notice  the 
one  I  have  in  general  use,  which  from  its 
great  utility,  deserves  to  be  better  known. 

A  Bee  hive  should  be  made  of  one  inch 
and  a  quarter  plank,  good  seasoned  stuff,. free 
from  shakes  and  cracks,  and  made  in  a  work- 
man-like manner,  it  should  be  planed  smooth, 
inside  and  out,  and  painted  outside,  with  any 
color  fancy  may  dictate.  Townley's  Patent 
Premium  Self  Protecting  Hive  is  generally 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      131 

preferred  above  all  others,  for  parlor  hives, 
they  are  easy  to  manage,  and  the  perfect  sim- 
plicity of  its  constructioD,  and  the  happy  ef- 
fects produced  by  the  wire  screen  bottom  in 
ventilatmg  the  hive,  and  in  keeping  out  the 
Bee-moih,  there  should  be  a  ventilation  near 
the  top  of  the  hive,  of  the  lower  apartment, 
to  let  off  the  vapor  which  frequently  cau- 
ses the  death  of  the  Bees  in  the  winter  by 
freezing.  This  hive  is  made  with  glass 
doors,  so  that  you  can  open  it  with  pleasure, 
and  ascertain  the  progress  of  the  Bees,  and 
also  the  very  convenient  manner  in  which 
the  surplus  honey  may  be  taken  from  the 
top  of  the  hive,  by  the  means  of  boxes  and 
shders,  without  being  exposed  to  the  danger 
of  a  single  sting,  render  it  highly  desirable 
by  every  apiarian  acquainted  with  it.  The 
top  of  the  hive  has  twelve  communications 
with  the  boxes,  and  the  boxes  have  glass  sides 
and  ends  for  ascertaining  when  the  boxes  are 
full,  and  for  taking  the  surplus  honey,  with- 
out destroying  a  single  Bee.  except  by  acci- 
dent.    The  hive   should  hang  in  a   frame 


132  TREATISE    ON    THE 

about  two  feet  six  inches  from  the  ground 
with  posts  for  the  frame  to  rest  upon,  and 
also  to  brace  the  posts.  Many  have  said 
much  about  the  proper  size  of  a  hive.  My 
Self  Protecting  Premium  Hive,  is  of  suffi- 
cient size  for  ordinary  purposes.  The  body 
of  the  hive  contains  about  35  pounds  of 
honey,  and  the  boxes  about  24  pounds.  I 
had  one  hive  that  made  me  40  pounds  of 
honey  in  the  boxes,  in  28  days,  in  the  house 
72  Spring  Street,  in  the  year  1840,  about  the 
center  of  the  city  of  New-York.  The  hive 
contains  a  sufficient  quantity  to  supply  the 
largest  swarms,  hi  large  hives,  Bees  seldom 
swarm,  and  if  at  ail,  generally  very  late,^ 
rendering^  the  swarm  but  of  little  use.  Some 
are  in  favor  of  very  large  hives,  in  order  to 
prevent  swarming,  but  such  persons  have 
but  little  experience  as  apiarians.  Some 
may  keep  Bees  merely  out  of  curiosity  but 
generally  the  principle  object  is  profit.  If, 
in  the  cultivation  of  Bees,  profit  is  thought 
of,  they  should  be  suffered  to  swarm  at  least 
once  in  each  season,  and  be  furnished  with 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.       133 

suitable  sized  hives  for  the  purpose.  And 
if  they  do  not  swarm  I  divide  them  and 
make  them  swarm.  And  I  very  often  have 
second  swarms  and  I  am  very  glad  to  have 
them  do  so.  Second  swarms  if  obtained  in 
June,  although  small  at  first,  soon  increase 
in  numbers,  fill  their  hive,  and  make  as  good 
stock  hives  for  wintering  as  first  swarms. 
Let  us  suppose  a  swarm  of  Bees  to  be  put 
into  a  hive  sufficiently  large  to  prevent  them 
from  swarming.  And  at  the  end  of  six 
years,  allowing  the  swarm  to  yield  twenty- 
five  pounds  of  surplus  honey  each  year 
which  is  a  low  estimate,  we  have  150  pounds 
of  honey,  and  one  swarm.  The  honey  is 
worth  two  shillings  a  pound,  and  the  swarm 
Five  Dollars,  making  $42  50. 

Now  let  us  begin  with  one  swarm,  and 
allow  the  progressive  increase  to  be  one 
swarm  from  each  of  those  which  have  be- 
come one  year  old.  At  the  end  of  six  years 
you  have  64  hives.  From  each  hive  with 
boxes  might  have  been  taken  the  moderate 
quantity  of  25  pounds  of  honey  annually. 
12 


134  TREATISE    ON    THE 

At  the  close  of  six  years  the  aggregate 
amount  would  be  1575  pounds  of  honey, 
leaving  a  balance  of  63  swarms  and  1425 
pounds   of   honey.     The  balance    in  cash 

would  be  $546  25. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


OBSERVATORY    HIVE. 


My  observatory  hive  possesses  in  my  es- 
timation more  valuable  properties,  taken  as 
a  whole,  than  any  other  that  I  am  acquaint- 
ed with.  It  has  all  the  advantages  of  a  com- 
mon hive,  as  to  capacity,  cleanliness,  and 
security  against  vermin,  while  at  the  same 
time,  it  enables  the  cultivator  to  ascertain  at 
all  times  the  state  of  his  colony,  nay,  of  every 
individual  cell,  the  progress  of  the  brood, 
the  quantity  of  provision,  the  existence  and 
number  of  royal  cells,  and  the  probable  pe- 
riod of  swarming.     It  aifords  every  facility, 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      135 

too,  for  making  artificial  swarms,  the  queen 
may  be  followed  in  all  her  movements,  and 
even  in  her  laying.  It  is  easy  to  open  the 
hive  and  lay  hold  of  her  at  any  time.  The 
whole  of  this  observatory  hive  is  made  to 
turn  round  on  the  shoulder  of  an  upright 
shaft,  through  which  shaft  the  passage  for 
the  Bees  must  of  necessity  be  made,  and 
which  does  not  admitt  of  a  bore  of  above 
an  inch  in  diameter.  As,  however,  this  nar- 
row perpendicular  passage  is  of  no  great 
length,  it  need  not  be  more  than  three  inches, 
many  thousands  of  Bees  will,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  minutes,  if  necessary,  make  their 
egress  and  regress  through  it  without  in  com- 
modins:  one  another. 

This  observatory  hive  consists  of  four 
frames,  each  frame  contains  two  lights  of 
glass,  one  on  each  side,  to  open  at  pleasure  ; 
each  frame  is  twelve  inches  in  height  and 
ten  in  width,  and  1  can  open  any  particular 
leaf  without  meddling  with  the  rest.  It  is 
also  well  adapted  for  artificial  swarming. 
The  Bee-master  has  the  whole  interior  com- 


136  TREATISE    ON    THE 

pletely  under  his  eyes  and  at  his  disposal, 
and  can  choose  v/hat  combs  best  suit  his 
purpose  for  making  artificial  swarms.  .  This 
hive  presents  great  facilities  for  making  ex- 
periments, and  for  observing  the  proceedings 
of  the  Bees,  which  being  prevented  from 
constructing  more  than  one  comb,  cannot 
conceal  any  part  of  their  operations  as  in 
other  hives.  The  panes  in  this  hive  being 
made  to  open  is  indispensable  for  experimen- 
tal operations,  such  as  seizing  the  queen,  cut- 
ting out  brood  comb,  &c.  The  whole  turns 
on  an  upright  shaft,  and  when  the  observer 
is  satisfied  with  inspecting  one  side  of  the 
comb,  he  may  wheel  the  hive  round  and  ex- 
amine the  other,  without  changing  his  sta- 
tion. By  this  mode  of  proceeding  he  may 
contemplate  his  favorites  at  his  leisure,  with- 
out disturbing  them,  and  without  the  slight- 
est danger  of  being  annoyed  by  them  ;  for  it 
is  true  that  they  become  so  much  accustom- 
ed to  the  opening  of  the  shutters,  that  the 
admission  of  the  light  ceases  to  disturb  them. 
In  short,  all  the  experiments  that  have  ever 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      137 

been  made  may  be  verified  by  means  of  this 
hive,  the  result  found,  and  new  experiments 
tried. 

The  body  of  the  hive  is  protected  by  a 
sloping  roof,  and  has  three  shutters  to  open 
at  pleasure,  and  the  entrance  for  the  Bees 
into  this  hive  is  made  through  the  thickness 
ol  the  floor  board.  I  will  only  add  that  the 
appearance  of  the  Bees  in  this  hive  is  beau- 
tiful, and  excites  admiration  and  surprise, 
nay,  is  capable  of  enlivening  the  drooping 
spirit  of  the  most  desponding  apiarian,  for 
who  can  view  the  queen  of  the  hive  con- 
stantly laying  her  eggs,  and,  by  so  doing, 
constantly  propagating  her  species  and  her 
thousands  of  subjects,  whose  indefatiofable 
labor  in  all  its  parts  is  so  conspicuous,  with- 
out experiencing  sensations  of  the  purest 
pleasure,  nay,  more,  of  gratitude  to  God  for 
his  goodness  to  man. 


12* 


138  TREATISE    ON    THE 

CHAPTER  XXL 

BEE    FEEDING. 

Neglected  generally,  as  is  the  manage- 
ment of  Bees  by  their  possessors,  there  is  no 
part  of  it  less  attended  to,  when  performed  at 
all.  than  that  of  feeding.  The  Bee-master 
commonly  takes  up,  as  he  terms  it,  his  best 
hives  for  the  sake  of  the  treasures  they  con- 
tain, or  are  supposed  to  contain.  This  is 
destroying  Bees  because  they  are  rich.  He 
also  takes  up  the  lightest  and  poorest,  (of 
course,  the  late  swarms  and  those  that  are 
the  least  likely  to  live  through  the  winter,) 
because  if  he  get  from  one  of  these  but  two 
or  three  pounds  of  honey,  though  he  seldom 
gets  so  much,  and  a  few  ounces  of  wax,  he 
thinks  that  that  is  all  clear  gain,  and  if  he 
get  neither  honey  nor  wax,  he  at  any  rate 
gets  rid  of  the  expense  and  trouble  of  feeding 
his  good-for-nothing  swarms,  which  in  his 
opinion,  however  fed,  would  never  come  to 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.       139 

any  good.  A  pennyworth  of  brimstone  will 
do  the  job  at  once,  and  is  more  easily  paid 
for  than  a  pound  of  honey,  and  after  that  an- 
other and  perhaps  another.  Such  is  the 
reasoning,  and  calculations,  and  cruel  prac- 
tice of  the  generality  of  Bee  keepers.  Such 
is  the  destruction  annually  dealt  out  to  hun- 
dreds of  poor  swarms,  and  thousands  and 
millions  of  poor  Bees.  I  do  from  my  heart 
pity  and  deplore  the  untimely  fate  of  these 
suffocated,  innocent,  valuable  insects.  To 
destroy  Bees  because  they  are  rich  is  a  bar- 
barous practice,  and  ought  by  all  means  to 
be  discountenanced  and  discontinued ;  to 
destroy  Bees  because  they  are  poor  and  may 
need  support,  is  cruel,  inhuman,  and  shock- 
ing, however  little  may  be  thought  of  it  by 
those  who  still  adhere  to  this  practice.  A 
person!  may  as  well  kill  a  favorite  horse  for 
his  skin,  as  to  destroy  a  swarm  of  Bees  for 
their  honey.  This  terrible  havoc  among 
poor  stocks  and  late  swarms  might  be  pre- 
vented, if  they  who  happen  to  have  them 
would  so   far  improve   themselves  in  the 


140  TREATISE    ON    THE 

practical  management  of  an  apiary,  as  to  be 
able  to  take  such  Bees  out  of  the  hives  con- 
taining them,  and  to  join  them  to  their  richer 
stock  hives,  in  the  latter  end  of  August,  or 
any  time  in  September.  This  is  by  far  the 
best  plan  that  can  be  adopted  with  poor  hives, 
and  there  really  is  no  difficulty  in  the  opera- 
tion ;  it  strengthens  the  population  of  the 
rich  stocks,  and  causes  them  to  swarm  early 
in  the  ensuing  spring  ;  it  preserves  the  Bees, 
which  is  of  itself,  independently  of  the  ad- 
vantages accruing  from  it  afterwards,  a  con- 
sideration that  never  should  be  lost  sight  of, 
and  in  most  cases  it  entirely  does  away  with 
the  necessity  of  feeding.  I  confess  I  should 
rejoice  greatly,  and  flatter  myself  that  every 
friend  of  humanity  would  rejoice  with  me, 
to  see  this  mode  of  disposing  of  weak  hives 
universally  adopted.  Notwithstanding,  un- 
der certain  circumstances,  it  will  always  be 
necessary  and  judicious  in  Bee-masters,  to 
have  recourse  to  feeding.  If,  for  instance, 
after  an  early  swarm  is  put  into  a  hive,  two 
or  three  or  more  cold,  ungenial  days  should 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.       141 

follow,  and  more  particularly  if  those  days 
should  happen  to  be  rainy  also,  by  feeding 
such  a  swarm  you  will  assist  your  impove- 
rished laborers,  not  only  with  necessary  food, 
but  with  materials  and  treasure  which,  un- 
fortunately for  them,  they  cannot  at  such  an 
unfavorable  juncture  get  abroad  to  collect 
elsewhere. 

Different  apiarians  have  adopted  and  re- 
commended different  ways  of  feeding  Bees, 
none  of  which,  in  my  opinion,  possess  any 
great  merit.  In  order,  therefore,  to  improve 
this  part  of  Bee  management,  my  endeavors 
have  been  directed  to  the  contrivance  and 
construction  of  a  feeding  department,  which 
I  put  on  the  top  of  my  hive  in  so  convenient 
a  manner,  that  I  can  feed  my  Bees,  at  any 
time  when  feeding  is  required,  without  being 
molested  by  a  single  Bee,  in  spring,  in  au- 
tumn, or  in  winter,  without  disturbing  the 
position  of  the  hive,  and  without  changing 
its  interior  temperature,  which  temperature 
cannot  be  kept  equable  and  comfortable, 
when  a  hive  is  frequently  lifted  up  from  its 


142  TREATISE    ON    THE 

Stand,  and  its  interior  is  suddenly  exposed  to 
the  action  of  perhaps  an  extremely  cold  at- 
mosphere. And  should  the  Bees  be  tempted 
by  food  or  urged  by  hunger,  to  descend  into 
these  currents,  in  sharp,  frosty  weather,  but 
few  of  them  will  get  away  alive,  the  keen  air 
acting  upon  them  while  feeding  paralyses  and 
kills  them.  I  am  an  advocate  for  keeping 
Bees  cool  in  winter ;  yes,  cool  and  still  also, 
let  them  not  be  disturbed  nor  disunited ;  let 
them  not  be  forced  nor  tempted  to  uncluster 
themselves.  I  have  no  objection  to  a  current 
of  air  passing  through  the  hive  in  winter, 
provided  the  Bees  he  not  disturbed,  be  not 
exposed  singly  to  its  nipping  influence  ;  but 
I  strongly  object  to  the  feeding  of  Bees  in 
such  currents,  because,  in  that  case,  feeding 
is  prejudicial  to  them.  Many  farmers  sel- 
dom protect  their  hives  in  summer  or  winter, 
they  are  left  exposed  to  all  weathers,  con- 
sequently the  less  they  are  disturbed  the  bet- 
ter. They,  therefore,  should  give  their  weak 
stocks  a  copious  feeding  in  September  at  the 
latest,  not  molest  them  during  the  severity  of 


MANAGEMENT    OP    HONEY    BEES.      143 

winter,  but  in  spring,  as  soon  as  the  Bees  be- 
gin to  make  their  appearance,  put  on  your 
feeder,  and  furnish  it  with  some  honey  or  a 
little  Bee  sirup,  as  feeding  is  necessary. 
Lifting  up  a  hive  at  Christmas,  and  scatter- 
ing a  few  ounces  of  brown  sugar  on  the 
stand,  and  then  setting  down  the  hive  again, 
deserves  not  the  name  of  feeding,  though  it 
is  all  the  bounty  that  is  bestowed  on  some 
stocks,  and  is  even  more  than  others  are 
treated  with.  It  need  not  then  be  wondered 
at  that  so  many  stocks  of  Bees  perish  in  the 
winter  and  in  the  spring  of  every  year.  By 
judicious  feeding,  at  proper  seasons,  almost 
any  stock  of  Bees  may  be  preserved  ;  by  in- 
judicious feeding,  at  an  improper  season, 
even  good  stocks — stocks  that  would  survive 
if  not  fed  at  all  nor  molested  during  the 
depth  of  winter — may  be  seriously  injured  or 
totally  destroyed. 

The  sum  and  substance  of  my  directions, 
as  respects  Bee  feeding,  are  these  : — 

1.  In  spring  feed  sparingly. 

2.  In  autumn  feed  plentifully. 


144  TREATISE    ON    THE 

3.  In  winter  do  not  feed  at  all. 

4.  Feed  swarms,  if  unseasonable  weather 
immediately  follow  the  act  of  swarming. 

5.  Preserve  the  Bees  of  weak  stocks,  and 
prevent  a  great  deal  of  the  necessity  for  feed- 
ing, by  adding  them  to  those  that  are  rich 
and  able  to  support  them.  This  last  is  the 
best,  and  cheapest,  and  most  scientific — nay, 
it  is  even  a  profitable  m^ethod  of  feeding  Bees. 
Early  swarming  is  necessary,  and  is  of  great 
advantage  to  the  watchful  apiarian,  but  not 
to  the  inattentive  and  slothful  manager.  If 
early  swarms  are  judiciously  fed,  supported 
by  a  natural  heat  within,  they  will  be  greatly 
benefited  thereby,  and  eventually  prosper. 
But  notwithstanding  what  has  been  already 
said,  the  cottager  may  probably  ask, — How 
can  I  feed  my  bees  without  lifting  up  their 
hive  ?  I  again  and  again  request  him  to  ex- 
amine my  feeding  apparatus  attached  to  my 
Self-protecting  Hive,  and  he  will  perceive 
that  Bees  may  be  easily  fed  in  this  manner, 
if  he  have  but  ingenuity  to  make  a  proper 
feeder  and  put  it  on  the  top  of  his  hive.    But 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.     145 

it  matters  not  what  sort  of  weather  it  may 
be,  if  my  mode  of  feeding  be  adopted.  I  feed 
my  Bees  in  their  native  temperature,  without 
disturbing  them  or  exposing  their  food  to  the 
temptation  of  robbers.  A  httle  food  granted 
to  a  populous,  and  even  well-provisioned 
hive  in  the  spring,  is  attended  with  very 
beneficial  consequences.  It  diffuses  anima- 
tion and  vigor  throughout  the  whole  com- 
munity, accelerates  the  breeding  of  the  queen, 
and  consequently  conduces  to  the  production 
of  early  swarms.  I  changed  Bees  this  spring 
(1842)  out  of  the  old  fashioned  country  hive, 
the  6th  day  of  April,  and  put  them  into  my 
hives  ;  they  filled  the  hives  and  swarmed 
before  any  country  hives  that  I  heard  of. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

BEE    FOOD. 

Honey  alone  is  the  natural  food  of  Bees, 
and  if  given  to  them  pure  and  untainted,  in 
13 


146  TREATISE    ON    THE 

its  primitive,  limpid  state,  so  far  from  being 
injurious,  it  is  highly  beneficial  to  them. 
Of  this  I  have  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt. 
For  autumnal  feeding  I  prefer  honey  to  all 
other  substances,  and*  recommend  it  as  the 
most  proper  food  that  can  be  given  to  them. 
In  general,  rich  stocks  are  healthy  and  strong 
in  the  spring.  Poverty  is  the  predisposing 
cause  of  dysentery  among  Bees  ;  a  regular 
supply  of  their  natural — their  peculiar  food, 
does  not  induce  dysentery  or  disease  of  any 
sort.  For  spring  feeding,  I  advise  to  take  a 
certain  quantity  of  honey  and  put  one-third 
water,  and  let  a  small  quantity  of  common 
salt  be  added.  By  a  small  quantity  I  mean 
a  drachm  or  two,  at  most,  to  a  quart  of  the 
liquid.  Salt,  it  has  been  said,  is  conducive 
to  the  health  of  the  Bees,  and  the  most  effi- 
cacious remedy  for  the  dysentery,  which 
sometimes  affects  Bees  in  the  spring  ;  there- 
fore, it  may  not  be  amiss  to  put  a  little  salt 
into  their  food,  by  way  of  preventive,  rather 
than  to  have  recourse  to  it  afterwards  as  a 
remedy. 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      147 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

METHOD    OF   DESTROYING  OR    PREVENTING 
THE    DEPREDATIONS  OF  THE   BEE   MOTH. 

This  insect  is  extremely  alert  in  discover- 
ing any  crevice  by  which  it  may  penetrate 
into  the  hive,  and  easily  effects  its  purpose 
if  the  Bees  are  not  numerous,  and  there  is  no 
sentinel  on  watch.  They  lay  their  eggs  in 
the  sides  of  the  hive,  or  in  the  rubbish  on  the 
floor,  or  even  in  the  combs  which  are  far- 
thest from  the  entrance.  Every  egg  con- 
tains an  insect,  which  in  due  time  becomes 
a  moth.  It  appears  first  under  the  form  of  a 
worm  or  larva,  and  it  is  in  this  stage  that  it 
commits  its  ravages,  extending  its  galleries 
or  covered  ways  throughout  every  quarter 
of  the  interior,  and  devouring  the  wax  and 
comb,  and  the  exuviae  of  Bee  nymphs,  and, 
very  probably,  the  nymphs  themselves.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  the  population  of  a  hive  in- 
fested by  these  destructive    creatures,    di- 


148  TREATISE    ON    THE 

minishes  with  such  rapidity  as  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  prey  upon  the  brood 
itself  as  well  as  on  its  exuviae.  The  Bees 
give  ground,  step  by  step,  until  being  great- 
ly reduced  in  numbers,  they  at  last  utterly 
abandon  the  hive.  There  have  been  hun- 
dreds of  hives  of  Bees  destroyed  by  this  little 
insect  in  our  country  annually.  The  Bee 
moth  has  become  so  numerous  in  New  Jer- 
sey, and  in  the  Western  States,  and  through- 
cut  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  its  success  in  de- 
stroying the  Bee  so  complete,  that  very  many 
apiarians  have  become  discouraged,  and 
abandoned  the  enterprise.  The  New- York 
Self-protecting  Patent  Premium  Bee  Hive  is 
undoubtedly  found  to  be  the  best  hive  now 
in  use,  for  preventing  the  depredations  of  the 
Bee  moth,  without  interfering  with  the  na- 
tural course  of  the  Bee.  This  hive  took  the 
premium  at  the  Fair  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute, in  1841,  over  Mr.  Weeks'  and  Mr. 
Hall's,  and  several  other  patent  hives  that 
were  there.  My  hive  has  a  wire  screen  bot- 
tom for  keeping  out  the  Bee  moth  and  for 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      149 

thoroughly  ventilating  the  hive,  which  keeps 
the  Bees  in  a  healthy  condition  both  winter 
and  summer  ;  for  Bees  need  more  air  in 
winter  than  they  do  in  summer,  as  in  cold 
weather  they  crowd  together  in  a  small  com- 
pass, in  order  to  keep  warm,  and  their  breath 
and  vapor  collect  in  frost  in  all  parts  of  the 
hive,  except  in  the  region  they  occupy.  By 
having  a  thorough  ventilation  through  the 
hive  the  Bees  are  kept  perfectly  healthy. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

ON    VENTILATION. 

Ventilation  is  one  of  the  greatest  re- 
sults of  my  studies  and  experiments  on  this 
point  of  apiarian  science.  There  are  but 
few  persons,  who  are  managers  of  Honey 
Bees  under  the  old  hive  system,  but  have  be- 
held these  little  creatures,  when  oppressed 
with  the  internal  heat  of  their  crowded  do- 
13* 


150  TREATISE    ON    THE 

micil,  unhappily  clustering  and  hanging  at 
the  entrance,  or  from  and  under  the  floor- 
board of  their  hive,  in  a  ball  frequently  as 
large  as  a  man's  head,  and  sometimes  cover- 
ing all  the  front  part  of  their  hive,  for  twenty 
or  thirty  days  together,  and  this,  be  it  re- 
marked, at  the  season  of  the  year  which  is  the 
most  profitable  for  their  labors  in  the  fields 
and  among  the  flowers.     During  this  dis- 
tress of  the  Bees  in,  or  belonging  to,  such  a 
hive,  their  labors  are  of  necessity  suspended, 
their  gathering  of  honey  ceases, — ceases,  too, 
at  the  very  time  that  that  saccharine  sub- 
stance is  most  plentifully  secreted  by  the  ve- 
getable world.     And — why  ?  All  because  of 
the  want  of  ventilation  in  their  domicil.  My 
hive  is  thoroughly  ventilated  by  means  of  a 
wire  screen  bottom  and  a  hole  at  the  top  of 
the  hive,  so  that  there  is  a  slow,  impercepti- 
ble current  of  air  constantly  passing  in  at 
the  bottom  and  off  at  the  top  through  the 
ventilator,  to  let  the  excess  of  animal  heat 
escape  in  summer,  and  also  to  throw  off  the 
vapor  caused  by  the  breath  and  other  exhala- 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.     151 

tions  of  the  Bees,  which  cause  frost  and  ice 
in  the  hive  in  the  winter,  and  which  are  fre- 
quently the  cause  of  the  deatii  of  the  Bees. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MANAGEMENT  OF  BEES  DURING  WINTER. 

The  honey  harvest  being  now  over,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  prepare  the  stock-hives  for 
passing  the  winter  in  safety.  Turn  over  the 
boxes  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  the  Bees  in 
September  or  early  in  October.  Much  spe- 
culation has  subsisted  of  late  relative  to  the 
most  eligible  situation  for  hives  during  the 
winter.  While  some  are  advocates  for  a 
warm,  sheltered  situation,  others  prefer  an 
exposure  to  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  weath- 
er and  in  both  these  conditions  mortality  has 
in  many  instances  overtaken  them.  1  have 
witnessed  many  experiments  for  the  preser- 
vation of  Bees  through  the  winter,  such  as 


152  TREATISE    ON    THE 

placing  them  in  cellars,  barns,  &c.  but  the 
result  proved  to  my  satisfaction,  that  all  in- 
terference, however  humane,  is  attended  with 
consequences  fatal  to  them  ;  from  my  own 
observation,  the  hives  which  are  best  covered 
during  winter,  always  prosper  most  the  fol- 
lowing summer.  The  warmer  hives  are 
kept  in  March  and  April  the  better,  as  it  ac- 
celerates the  hatching  of  the  eggs  and  pro- 
motes the  prohfic  nature  of  the  queen.  It  is 
almost  needless  to  say,  that  feeding  during 
winter  is  out  of  the  question,  even  though 
the  season  should  be  mild.  It  is  unnecessa- 
ry, and  would  prove  injurious,  tempting  the 
insects  to  leave  the  comparatively  warm  at- 
mosphere of  the  center  of  the  hive  where 
they  are  congregated  in  dense  clusters,  and 
to  expose  themselves  to  the  colder  tempera- 
ture below,  which  chills,  and  ultimately  de- 
stroys them.  At  the  same  time  I  must  not 
be  understood  as  recommending  the  shutting 
them  up  altogether,  so  that  they  cannot  take 
the  advantage  of  an  occasional  interval  of 
sunshine.     Leave  the  narrow  apertures  free, 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      153 

to  afford  the  Bees  an  opportunity  of  coming 
abroad  when  they  can  do  so  in  safety.  Ab- 
solute confinement  is  extremely  prejudicial 
to  them.  The  practice  which  prevails  in 
some  places  of  removing  the  hives  into  the 
dwelling-house,  by  way  of  preserving  them 
from  the  cold,  is  by  no  means  to  be  recom- 
mended, and,  in  fact,  is  often  followed  by  fa- 
tal effects.  The  increased  temperature  of 
the  place  to  which  they  have  been  removed, 
keeps  them  in  such  a  state  of  animation  and 
excitement,  that  they  continue  to  eat  during 
the  whole  period  of  their  confinement,  and 
not  being  at  liberty  to  go  abroad  and  evacu- 
ate, their  bodies  become  swollen  and  diseased 
by  the  retention  of  their  foeces,  for  they  are 
most  unwilling  to  soil  the  interior  of  their 
dwelling,  and  great  numbers  of  them  are 
thus  cut  off,  and  when  in  spring  the  hive  is 
brought  into  the  open  air,  the  few  inhabi- 
tants that  remain  are  too  feeble  to  bear  the 
sudden  change  of  temperature,  and  gradu- 
ally dwindle  away,  or  are  plundered  and  de- 
stroyed by  the  more  vigorous  and  healthy. 


154  TREATISE    ON    THE 

It  may  be  observed  as  an  axiom,  that  in  both 
animal  and  vegetable  life  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest  grade,  we  gain  nothing  by  with- 
holding a  due  portion  of  nutriment,  and  it 
may,  perhaps,  be  affirmed,  as  a  demonstrated 
truth,  that  Bees  which  have  been  amply  sus- 
tained during  winter  and  spring  are  earlier 
in  hatching  their  young  brood,  and  more  in- 
dustrious in  providing  a  store  of  honey,  than 
those  which  have  been  stinted.  According 
to  my  judgment,  the  principal  requisite  for 
the  preservation  of  Bees  in  winter,  are,  that 
the  hive  contain  a  sufficient  number  of  Bees 
to  maintain  a  certain  degree  of  warmth,  that 
they  have  a  plentiful  store  of  honey,  and  that 
they  be  secluded  from  the  inclemency  of 
snow  and  rain,  and  out  of  the  influence  of 
the  sun,  to  be  kept  still,  and  undisturbed. 
It  is  a  philosophical  truth,  that  the  vital  prin- 
ciple is  cherished  and  promoted  by  heat,  and 
that  all  animals  and  insects  flourish  and  pros- 
per most  when  under  its  influence,  analogy^ 
therefore,  would  seem  to  dictate,  that  Bees  be 
kept  moderately,  and  as  far  as  possible,  uni- 
formly warm. 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.      155 


CHAPTER  XXYL 

ON    BURYING    BEES. 

I  HAVE  lately  been  made  acquainted,  and 
from  good  authority,  with  the  singular  expe- 
dient of  burying  hives  ot  bees  in  the  earth 
for  their  preservation  during  winter.  It 
would  appear,  a  priori^  a  visionary  scheme, 
altogether  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of 
nature,  that  animals  or  insects,  whose  resi- 
dence is  on  the  earth,  could  exist,  when  de- 
prived of  air  and  light  beneath  its  surface. 
Hives  oi  Bees  have  been  preserved  through 
the  winter,  when  deposited  three  or  four  feet 
below  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  this  you 
may  try,  if  you  please,  only  mind  you  bury 
them  in  a  dry  place.  It  has  been  practised 
in  Rhode  Island  for  several  years,  and  it  is 
seldom  that  a  swarm  perishes  in  that  situa- 
tion. To  my  view,  however,  it  appears  an 
unnatural  process  thus  to  subject  insects  to 
a  sudden  transition  from  atmospherical  air 


156  TREATISE    ON    THE 

and  light  to  a  state  of  utter  darkness.  The 
object  in  burying  Bees  in  the  earth  is  that 
they  may  pass  the  winter  with  little  or  no 
food,  and  it  is  stated  that  very  small,  feeble 
swarms  thus  treated,  or  when  confined  in 
dark  cellars,  are  preserved,  when  in  any 
other  situation  they  must  have  perished  of 
hunger.  The  method  practised  in  burying 
Bees  is  to  choose  a  spot  of  dry  ground  where 
there  is  no  probability  of  water  reaching  the 
hive.  Dig  the  hole  considerably  larger  than 
the  hive,  and  about  eighteen  inches  deeper 
than  the  height  of  it,  fill  the  vacancy  round 
the  hive  with  straw,  cover  it  over  so  deep 
that  no  frost  can  reach  it.  They  are  buried 
in  November  and  liberated  in  April,  when  if 
they  appear  destitute  of  honey  it  will  be  ne- 
cessary to  feed  them.  That  Bees  should 
survive  under  such  circumstances,  seems  to 
be  among  the  inscrutible  phenomena  in  nat- 
ural history.  Though  1  do  not  hesitate  to 
advance  the  opinion,  that  their  preservation 
is  to  be  ascribed  more  to  a  uniform  degree  of 
warmth,  than  to  any  other  cause ;  but  with 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY    BEES.       157 

respect  to  air  for  the  purpose  of  respiration 
during  their  seclusion  in  the  earth,  will  the 
quantity  of  air  enclosed  with  the  hive,  to- 
gether with  the  aid  of  their  own  ventilating 
powers  subserve  the  purpose  of  respiration. 
We  know  but  little  respecting  the  efficacy  of 
their  ventilating  process,  but  we  know  that 
Bees  have  in  many  instances  sustained  such 
privations  during  five  months  with  perfect 
impunity. 


CHAPTER  XXVIL 

REMEDY    FOR    THE    STINGS    OF    BEES. 

The  stings  of  Bees  are  not  often  attend- 
ed with  serious  consequences,  though  when 
numerous,  they  are  not  altogether  without 
danger.  The  poisonous  liquor  which  the 
Bee  infuses  into  the  wound  causes  a  fermen- 
tation, attended  with  a  swelling,  which  con- 
tinues sometimes  several  days,  but  that  must 


158  TREATISE    ON    THE 

be  prevented  by  immediately  pulling  out  the 
sting,  and  washing  tiie  place  with  the  reme- 
dy I  shall  prescribe.  Many  things  have 
been  recommended  as  cures — infallible  cures, 
of  course,  for  the  sting  of  a  Bee.  But  if  the 
sting  be  suffered  to  remain  in  the  flesh,  du- 
ring a  few  seconds  only,  it  is  not  very  easy 
to  stop  the  inflammation  and  allay  the  pain. 
An  onion  cut  horizontally  into  thin  slizes, 
and  pressed  closely  to  the  wounded  part,  and 
renewed  at  short  intervals,  has  been  account- 
ed a  good  application.  If  the  part  stung  be 
first  well  rubbed  with  one  of  those  slices, 
that  would  perhaps  have  a  soothing  effect. 
The  juice  of  the  plantain  is  also  said  to  be  a 
specific,  olive  oil  is  another,  so  is  common 
salt,  so  is  laudanum,  so  is  spirits  of  hearts- 
horn,  so  is  salaratus,  so  is  a  solution  of  sal 
ammonise,  and  so  is  chalk  or  whitening. 
The  doctor  says  common  whitening  proves 
an  effectual  remedy  against  the  effects  of  the 
sting  of  a  Bee  or  Wasp.  The  whitening  is 
to  be  moistened  with  cold  water,  and  imme- 
diately applied.     It  may  be  washed  off  in  a 


MANAGEMENT    OF    HONEY   BEES.      159 

few  minutes,  when  neither  pain  nor  swelling 
will  ensue.  Pressure  with  the  hollow  end 
of  a  small  key,  or  with  a  pencil-case,  is  prac- 
tised by  some  unfortunates,  and  is  said  to 
check  the  circulation  of  the  poison.  This 
last  mode  of  treatment — i.  e.  pressure  with  a 
small  key,  or  pencil  case,  the  smaller  the  bet- 
ter, is  the  simplest,  and,  if  immediately 
adapted,  is  I  believe  the  very  best.  But  its 
efficacy  depends  upon  the  instant  application 
of  the  key  or  pencil  case  to  the  part  stung, 
by  which  the  poisonous  matter  is  not  only 
prevented  from  being  absorbed  into  the  sys- 
tem, but  the  puncture  is  laid  open,  and  the 
virus  thereby  expressed  and  entirely  got  rid 
of  more  readily  than  by  any  other  means. 
Accidents  may  sometimes  happen,  and  the 
most  cautious  and  humane  apiarian  may  oc- 
casionally receive  a  sting,  but  gende  treat- 
ment does  not  irritate  Bees,  and  when  not  ir- 
ritated they  have  no  disposition  to  use  their 
stings. 


160  TREATISE    ON   THE 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MEASURE    AND    WEIGHT    OF    BEES. 

The  following  is  a  table  of  the  average 
number,  measure,  and  weight  of  Bees,  which 
I  have  counted  and  weighed.     It  takes  4480 
Bees  to  the  pound. 
17920  Bees,  constitute  a  good 

swarm  will  weigh 
280  Workers, 
100  Drones, 
4480  Workers, 
1830  ditto — a  pint  measure, 
3660  ditto — a  quart,  do. 


lbs. 

oz. 

dr. 

4 

00 

00 

0 

1 

00 

0 

1 

00 

1 

00 

00 

0 

6 

5 

0 

12 

10 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

CObfCLUSION. 

Hoping  I  have  satisfied  my  readers,  for 
which  I  have  exerted  the  utmost  of  my  slen- 


MANAGEMENT    OP    HONEY    BEES.      161 

der  abilities,  and  communicated  every  obser- 
vation and  experiment  worth  mentioning,  I 
have  only  to  request  their  candor  and  indul- 
gence, and  if  this  treatise  shall  be  instrumen- 
tal, in  any  respect,  to  benefit  and  profit  my 
fellow-creatures,  I  shall  be  amply  rewarded 
for  the  labor  and  pains  I  have  taken  for  that 
purpose.  As  the  principal  object  of  this 
treatise  is  to  promote  the  instruction  and  good 
of  others,  I  have  only  to  say,  that  if  in  any 
thing  I  am  mistaken,  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  set 
right,  for  the  more  we  know  of  those  indus- 
trious and  profitable  insects,  the  Bees,  the 
more  we  may  be  perplexed,  but  we  shall  be 
led  to  admire  and  adore  their  wonderful  pro- 
perties and  economy,  though  no  man  can 
search  them  out  to  perfection. 

P.  S.  Any  gentleman  whose  Bees  have 
omitted  swarming,  and  who  is  desirous  of 
increasing  his  stock,  may  have  swarms  taken 
out  of  any  old  hive,  by  Edward  Townley, 
the  author,  which  shall  do  as  well,  or  better, 
than  those  which  come  forth  of  their  own 


162  TREATISE,    ETC.  • 

free  choice.  In  like  manner,  Bees  can  be 
taken  out  of  hollow  trees,  walls,  or  any  other 
places,  and  divided  so  as  to  make  two  swarms 
from  one. 

TOWNLEY'S  PATENT  PREMIUM 
BEE  HIVES. 

Individual  rights  for  constructing  and  using 
the  above  hives  may  be  obtained  for  Five 
Dollars,  Cash,  by  addressing  the  subscriber. 
All  letters  to  be  post  paid.  Also,  Rights  for 
Towns,  Counties,  or  States,  will  be  sold  at 
liberal  prices. 

EDWARD  TOWNLEY, 

75  Thompson,  St.  N.  Y. 


v;: 


I 


